Love Island was meant to air in June 2020, but unfortunately due to the pandemic it was delayed. But now after months of waiting, the show is nearly here. 

Here’s everything you need to know about when Love Island is coming back, and who the contestants will be. We also have a method for watching the show abroad, the same way you can watch BBC iPlayer abroad, or watch American channels like The CW and Netflix US. 

When is Love Island coming back?

You’ve not got long to wait, as Love Island will be returning on Monday 28 June 2021 at 9pm on ITV2. It will then air every night – apart from Saturdays – for eight weeks in total. 

You can see the official trailer for the show below:

Current excitement level: Already personally invested in every single Islander 💘🎉

See you Monday 28th June at 9pm on @itv2 and @itvhub! #LoveIsland

— Love Island (@LoveIsland)
June 23, 2021

Who will be presenting?

Laura Whitmore shall return as the main presenter, whilst Iain Stirling will be back as usual to narrate the show. 

How to watch Love Island online

You probably already know that you can watch Love Island on ITV2 on your TV in the UK. But if you can’t get to a TV screen, you can also watch it live on the , via the ITV Hub app (for or ) or on .

If you miss it and want to catch up online, you can do so via the or the .

If you’d like to download an episode to watch offline, perhaps on your commute, you can subscribe to , which is available with a seven day free trial followed by a fee of £3.99 per month. Downloads are only available on the iOS app, but additional benefits include ad-free catch up for all users.

You can also watch previous seasons of Love Island over on . If you’ve not got an account, you can check out our picks of the best TV shows and films on the platform. 

How to watch Love Island abroad

The ITV Hub+ app also allows you to catch up on Love Island and other shows when you’re abroad. However, there are limitations, including the exclusion of live TV and a restriction that only allows you to catch up on shows from within EU countries.

There is a way around this, but it’s important to point out that these methods go against ITV’s terms and conditions.

In order to watch Love Island from any country in the world, you’ll need to use a VPN. A VPN changes the location of your IP Address, so you can choose to connect to a server inside the UK to watch Love Island online.

Our VPNs of choice are NordVPN, Surfshark or , but you can find more of our favourites in our round-up of the best VPNs. You can also take a look at our list of recommended free VPNs. However, these have limited server options and therefore you may find streaming more difficult using one of these. 

Once you’ve installed and signed in your VPN and selected a UK server, you can head over to TVPlayer.com or ITV’s website or the ITV Player app, and log in to watch Love Island from abroad.

ITV can block VPNs from working at any time so it’s possible that it won’t always work. You should be able to contact your VPN’s support to find out why.

It’s worth first checking that you don’t have Location Access enabled on the ITV Hub app, because this can cause issues with using a VPN too. Navigate to the settings for ITV Hub on your phone or tablet to check.

Most VPNs will work on desktop or mobile, and there are also ways to install and use a VPN on devices such as the Amazon Fire TV Stick and games consoles.

Love Island contestants

All the contestants for this year’s Love Island have now been confirmed. They are:

• Sharon Gaffka – age 25, from Oxford, lawyer-in-training and former beauty pageant queen
• Aaron Francis, age 24, from London, luxury events host
• Liberty Poole, age 21, from Birmingham, waitress and marketing student
• Hugo Hammond, age 24, from Hampshire, PE teacher and former England disability cricket player
• Shannon Singh, age 22, from Fife, model
• Jake Cornish, age 24 from Weston-super-Mare, water engineer
• Kaz Kamwi, age 26, from Essex, fashion blogger
• Brad McClelland, age 26 from Northumberland, labourer
• Chloe Burrows, age 25, from Bicester, marketing executive
• Toby Aromolaran, age 22, from Essex, football player
• Faye Winter, age 26, from Devon, lettings manager

You can see a brief interview with them all below:

POV: You’re speed dating our 🔥🔥🔥 new Islanders #LoveIsland

— Love Island (@LoveIsland)
June 21, 2021

How to apply for Love Island

Applications are now open for the next series of Love Island. If you’re over 18, have a valid passport and are willing to take eight weeks off of work, then you can . Applications close on Friday 16 July 2021.