Love Island has been cancelled and pulled from the summer TV schedule due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, ITV bosses have confirmed at Edinburgh TV Festival.
TV execs have said that the show can't go ahead as the safety of contestants cannot be guaranteed amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, reports The Mirror.
But they have promised that the show will be back and "stronger than ever" in 2021.
Kevin Lygo, Director of Television at ITV, said: "We have tried every which way to make Love Island this summer but logistically it's just not possible to produce it in a way that safeguards the wellbeing of everyone involved and that for us is the priority.
It comes after channel boss Kevin said he felt Islanders "slavering over each other" would send the wrong message.
He said during an interview hosted by Edinburgh TV Festival: "What signal might it be sending out if we're doing a show where everyone is crammed together slavering over each other, and the rest of the world is told not to go near anyone in the park?"
Thankfully, fans of the show were already given a dose of it this year, with the first ever winter series, which saw Paige Turley and Finley Tapp crowned winners.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, it would be impossible to film the show with the restrictions on travel and of course, the social-distancing rules.
It's reported that the work already put into the production of the now-cancelled summer series will instead by put to use in another winter series early next year.
It's said that casting had already begun, with interviews taking place over Zoom, meaning that applicants who had been hoping to head to Spain this summer could be held back for the next winter offering.
This is the first time Love Island has missed a series since it began in 2015, when Max Morley and Jessica Hayes won.It's thought that a whopping 12,000 people had already applied for the show.
Laura Whitmore will return to host the next series after stepping in to replace Caroline Flack.
Her fiancé Iain Stirling will also return to provide the hilarious voiceover.
