Love Island 2023: Sky promotes the show with the image of Laura Whitmore instead of Maya Jama
Sky made an embarrassing mistake on Monday night when the TV channel used an image of Laura Whitmore to promote the new Love Island.
The 37-year-old TV presenter stepped away from the ITV2 dating show last year, a role she took up in 2020.
Meanwhile, new host Maya Jama has taken the reigns, writing on her Instagram on Monday: “Hope everyone is proud.”
Strange! Sky made an embarrassing mistake on Monday night when the TV channel used an image of Laura Whitmore to promote the new Love Island.
oops! The 37-year-old TV presenter stepped away from the ITV2 dating show last year, a role she took up in 2020
Love Island returned to screens for its highly anticipated winter series on Monday 16 January, three years after the ITV2 reality show last aired outside of its regular summer installment.
The ninth series is being hosted for the first time by Maya, after Laura stepped down from her position following the tragic death of former host Caroline Flack in 2020.
Confessing that she found it “very difficult” to fly back and forth from the Mallorca villa, Laura claimed she was only planning to fill in for Caroline for one series, emotionally saying she hopes she has “made her late friend proud”.
Alongside Love Island, she had fronted sister show Aftersun and had faced mixed reviews, with some viewers praising her handling of sensitive subjects, while others criticized her for “fostering slut-shaming” in a segment that sparked 427 Ofcom complaints.
New Host: Meanwhile, new host Maya Jama has taken the reigns, writing on her Instagram Monday: “I hope you’re all proud.”
The Irish presenter joined in 2020 and has hosted the hugely popular reality show and its spin-off Aftersun for three series.
Laura, who is mother to a 16-month-old daughter with Love Island voiceover star Iain Sterling, took to her Instagram at the time to confirm she would be leaving, saying she had found it “very difficult” to fly one way. and return from the villa. .
Laura replaced Caroline Flack as the host of Love Island when she retired in December 2019. Caroline tragically committed suicide at age 40 in February 2020.
In her statement, Laura said she only planned to replace Caroline for one series, emotionally saying that she hoped she had made her late friend “proud”.
Departure: Laura announced in August last year that she was leaving the show and would not host the next series of the ITV2 dating show again (pictured in August 2022)
On Instagram, Laura said: ‘Some news! I will not be hosting the next Love Island series.
“There are certain elements of the program that I found very difficult and cannot be changed due to the format, including the flight to South Africa and back along with my conflicting new projects.
‘I wish it was still possible, but I know you’ll be in good hands. I was only planning to replace Caroline in one series and it became 3 series. I hope I made you proud, Caroline.
Speaking of Laura’s departure, an ITV spokesperson said at the time: ‘Laura has been a fantastic host over the past three seasons of the show.
“We are very grateful for all that she has brought to the show, but we understand and respect her decision, and look forward to working with her on future ITV projects.”
Host: The Irish presenter, 37, joined Love Island in 2020 and has hosted the hugely popular reality show for three series (pictured August 2022)
Maya has experience hosting shows like Walk the Line and Soccer Aid.
Fellow host Vick Hope had also been in the running for the show.
Laura’s departure from the show came after she spoke about the “exhausting” and “difficult” aspects of hosting Love Island.
she told the distraction pieces podcast: ‘With the Love Island stuff, it’s a little exhausting sometimes because some of the stuff is just mental.
Tribute: Laura said she only planned to replace former host Caroline Flack (right), who took her own life in February 2020, for a series, saying she hoped she had made her late friend proud (pictured in 2018)
‘As a host, this doesn’t take up a huge amount of my time compared to my other work. It’s more than eight weeks.
‘The presenter only appears three or four times, it has always been like that, but he is the one that receives the most attention. He’s a bit exhausting and he’s tough.
The villa was revealed last month, with sources telling MailOnline that the South African mansion is the “best villa” yet.
Love Island bosses reportedly spent £1.2 million.
According to The Sun, the luxurious mansion in South Africa has a zip line, a 400-meter running track, and rugby and soccer fields.
The oversized luxury eco retreat boasts stunning mountain views and is located in a ‘protected area’ in the heart of the Franschhoek wine valley on South Africa’s ‘millionaire’s row’.
ITV2 is said to be shelling out £8,000 a day for the exclusive use of the property, which is said to be owned by a triathlete couple.
Amazing! Love Island bosses have reportedly splashed out on a £1.2m villa in which contestants will compete as gladiators to win the show’s sportiest season yet.