“Love Island” will could be back for season 2 sooner than expected, but not on an island.
Pre-production on the CBS reality show is underway in a Las Vegas hotel, Variety has confirmed with sources close to the production, and the network is hoping to have the season ready to air near the end of summer.
Season 1 of “Love Island,” which is based on the wildly popular U.K. format, shot in Fiji, but any plans to return to those sunny shores and that massive villa for another season were scrapped by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The show’s second installment was supposed to premiere in late May.
According to sources, the production crew and budding lovebirds will be required to quarantine before shooting commences, and testing will continue throughout production. Members of the crew will work from pods as a social distancing precaution.
News of of the “Love Island” Vegas production gamble comes just under a month after Variety exclusively reported that “The Bachelorette” is also planning to shoot in a quarantined location, with all cast and crew members living on-site.
The “Love Island” production setup appears to mirror that of another CBS property in “The Bold and the Beautiful,” which was one of the very first series to return to set after a COVID-19 enforced hiatus. While the soap starting airing new episodes earlier this week, the production process under COVID regulations hasn’t all been smooth sailing, as shooting had to be paused early on to “better accommodate the large volume of testing needed.”
“Love Island,” which is produced by ITV Entertainment, sees a group of singles marooned on an island (or in the case of season 2, in a casino) and asks them to couple-up or get dumped from the tropical villa. The Islanders face challenges and the arrival of new Islanders almost every episode as friendships and relationships form.
CBS renewed the show for a second outing in August last year, and the show represented a big summer swing for the network, which programmed it five nights a week.
Vulture first reported the production resumption news.