ROMANCE ON THE HORIZON

CAROLINE FLACK HOPES TO STRIKE SOME MATCHES AS THE COUPLING REALITY SHOW RETURNS…

Inside TV chats with a lot of TV presenters who clearly adore their work, but when it comes to Love

Island, Caroline Flack is on a whole different level – she’s an out-and-out fan. When we arrive for our interview, she’s just had her first look at this year’s contestants and she can’t wait to get talking…

Is returning to Love Island the highlight of your year?

Honestly, if I could have another job rather than hosting it, I’d love to cast it – the casting director must have the best job! You’re literally creating the show, these people are the show – but we do have the best team. I’ve seen all the islanders today, and they’re all so goodlooking – I’m sure that’s why they need me here, just to bring some normality!

The show really took off last year – does that put extra pressure on you all to deliver again this year?

I think the excitement makes it better – the contestants from last year are in the media still, and people are still talking about them. It’s always nice to have a bit of pressure anyway – you don’t just wander in and go, “Let’s make a TV show”. You want to make it as good as last year, and for that we’ve got to work a bit harder!

This year, there’s also a spin-off called Aftersun that you’re hosting…

I like being on social media and talking about the show with everybody, and that’s sort of why we’ve done Aftersun – so we can own the online chat and the fans can shout at us if they want to! We’re going to have celeb guests, superfans, relationship experts, all sorts.

And will there be any changes this year?

The villa’s new, so we’re in a whole new location. I think it’s nice to have a fresh place to live, otherwise you remember, ‘That’s where that happened’, and God knows what kind of mess was left behind at the old villa! This one is more Spanish-looking, it’s bigger, it has more hiding places and it’s kind of sexier – it’s all going to feel a lot fresher.