On Tuesday, Caroline Flack announced that she would no longer be hosting ITV’s first-ever winter Love Island. The 40-year-old presenter – who has presented all five of Love Island’s previous series and earned a reported 600k yearly salary - announced she was stepping down from the show in the light of media reports over her arrest last week.
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Now, ITV will be in a rush to find a suitable replacement to take on hosting duties, as the series is set to hit our screens on Sunday 12th January. Caroline had already been to Cape Town to start preparing for the show so whoever replaces her will be playing catch-up. Luckily for ITV, there are a number of potentially brilliant presenters who could take on the role.
The current bookies’ favourite seems to be Maya Jama – who has plenty of presenting experience both on TV and on the radio. She has previously fronted MTV’s True Love Or True Lies and the first series of Channel 4’s The Circle. However, it might be difficult for Maya to take on Love Island presenting duties on top of her Radio 1 shows.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that Caroline’s replacement will be a woman – as Rick Edwards has thrown his hat in the ring for the job. In a swiftly-deleted message tweeted shortly after Caroline’s arrest – and before she stepped down – Rick said: ‘Well, ITV2. I'm pretty free in January, I'll happily travel to South Africa, and I've never been charged with assault. Full disclosure though, I was once charged with public urination in New York. Hope that's not a problem.’
Viewers also reckon that a former Islander could be in line for the job – with one of this summer’s standout stars, Maura Higgins, seeming a likely candidate. She posted teasing Instagrams this week about shooting ‘something very exciting...’ and fans reckon she could be the right girl for the job…
Whilst nothing has yet been confirmed, we should be receiving official word in the next few weeks.
Check out the video above for the rest of the stars rumoured to be taking over from Caroline Flack...