New host of Love Island 'yet to be determined' but will host winter series ITV confirm at Edinburgh TV Festival

The new host of Love Island is yet to be determined but they will host the new winter series, the director of reality and acquisitions at ITV has announced at the Edinburgh TV Festival.

It was announced that Laura Whitmore would be stepping down from hosting duties.

The 37-year-old presented the popular dating programme, and its spin-off series Aftersun, since 2020 after the death of the show’s former host Caroline Flack.

Sharing the news on her Instagram, Whitmore wrote: “Some news! I won’t be hosting the next series of Love island.

Laura Whitmore at the British Vogue and Tiffany & Co Fashion and Film event at Annabel's in London. Picture date: Sunday March 13, 2022.

“There are certain elements of the show I’ve found very difficult that cannot be changed some due to the format, including the flying back and forth to South Africa along with my new conflicting projects.

“I wish it was still possible but know you’ll be in safe hands. I was only planning to fill in for Caroline for a series and it turned into 3 series. I hope I did you proud Caroline”.

Laura Whitmore will front a new series which will explore “edgy, difficult worlds”, it has been announced by the factual controller for ITV.

Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Jo Clinton-Davis revealed that the former Love Island host will present the new three-part series with a working title of Laura Whitmore investigates.

Clinton-Davis said that in the programme Whitmore will explore the worlds where sex and power collide.

ITV managing director of media and entertainment Kevin Lygo said he accepts the allegations that mistakes were made in how they have handled certain shows such as Love Island.

Discussing the likes of the hit dating show and Big Brother at the Edinburgh TV Festival, he said: “Some of the things that go on in these shows, we’ve only got an hour, but I feel it is disingenuous to show things that producers might say ‘oh, this is uncomfortable’.

“A good and useful consequence of entertainment shows is that it raises these points of people’s behaviour … but, as producers, we have to make sure they don’t step too far.”

Mr Lygo added they were planning to revive Big Brother due to the success of Love Island as well as it being suited to the launch of their new platform ITVX.

Reflecting on ITV’s duty-of-care policy for these type of reality shows, he said he felt it is “uppermost in producers’ minds” and that it has progressed “leaps and bounds” in the last couple of years.