Love Island USA is coming to the UK
This week ITV2 announced that Love Island USA will be broadcast on the channel from 7th September at 21:00.
Starting next month, viewers will be able to follow season two of the U.S. version of the international reality sensation, as a new cast of Islanders get ready to arrive on the ‘Island’ of love – set this year in Las Vegas. This season, the singletons will be sequestered in a “bubble” at a stunning villa on top of Caesars Entertainment’s boutique hotel, The Cromwell.
Host Arielle Vandenberg and narrator Matthew Hoffman will return to preside over the antics as these singles embark on a summer of potential romance in one of the most famous cities in the world.
Playing the definitive game of love, the US Islanders will get to know each other in the hope of finding ‘the one’. But as new bombshells arrive on the ‘Island’, which couples will stand the test of time and make it all the way to the final, and have a chance of bagging the $50,000 cash prize?
We’re thrilled that ITV2 can bring the latest US version of Love Island to viewers this year. Las Vegas may seem like an odd destination for the show but the canny producers have beaten Covid with a show that adheres to all production protocols and that could well be sensational. Certainly the ‘villa’ is impressive and the cast diverse and amazing. We believe Love Island fans will embrace this Sin City twist, my bet is the series will be another big hit.”Paul Mortimer, ITV’s Head of Digital Channels and Acquisitions
ITV Hub launches EarlyBe
Reality fans rejoice, as the ITV Hub unveils EarlyBe, an exclusive first chance to watch brand new episodes of ITVBe’s most popular and talked about shows.
Starting on Thursday 3rd September, the Hub will debut the first episode from the new series of Sam & Billie: The Mummy Diaries on the platform the morning before broadcasting on ITVBe.
The ITV Hub will host all new episodes of reality favourites including The Real Housewives of Cheshire and The Only Way Is Essex.
As TOWIE reaches its milestone tenth anniversary, and with Housewives going into its twelve series, new episodes from both series will go live on the ITV Hub each week by 7:00am.
In 2019, TOWIE proved one of the ITV Hub’s five most popular catch up programmes. The ITV Hub will also be airing a new series, The TOWIE Years, looking back on a decade of Essex drama.
EarlyBe begins on Thursday 3rd September.
ITVBe’s reality content has always proved hugely popular on the ITV Hub platform, and now we’re treating Hub viewers to an early morning fix of their favourite shows, ensuring they can stay ahead of the curve on all the Essex dramas and Housewives feuds.”Paul Mortimer, Head of Digital Channels & Acquisitions, ITV
ITV commissions an adaption of The Confessions of Frannie Langton
The brilliantly searing depiction of race, class, and oppression portrayed in Sara Collins’ debut novel, The Confessions of Frannie Langton is to be adapted into a murder mystery drama series for ITV by Drama Republic.
The four part drama will be written by the author, Sara Collins, who won the Costa first novel award in 2019 for her haunting tale of Frannie Langton, a woman born into a life of slavery who is fighting to tell her own story.
Set against the dazzling opulence of Georgian London, The Confessions of Frannie Langton, narrates Frannie’s journey from a Jamaican plantation to the grand Mayfair mansion of celebrated scientist George Benham and his exquisitely beautiful wife, Madame Marguerite Benham.
In a misguided and monstrous gesture Frannie is gifted to Benham by the man who owns her, John Langton, and she is employed as a maid in the household much to her chagrin.
“For so long I've wondered why we never see period dramas featuring black protagonists that also happen to be 'whodunnits', love stories or juicy, addictive dramas, rather than stories of victimhood. It's an absolute dream come true to be collaborating with Drama Republic and ITV on adapting Frannie for television, even more meaningful because I hope it will be all of those things, and because I know how powerful it is to see yourself represented on-screen in fresh stories that stamp all over stale old stereotypes.”Sara Collins, Author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton
As the plot twists and turns, events take a fateful turn as the Benhams are found murdered in their beds, with Frannie lying next to Marguerite.
Frannie is accused of murder; a murder she can’t remember. Dragged away to prison, Frannie attempts to piece together the events of that night. She is deep into a laudanum addiction and unable to recall what happened. Will Frannie recall the haunting events of that night? All she knows is she loved Marguerite passionately and cannot believe she would have hurt her.
But if not Frannie, who did commit the double murder? Others have motive, but only Frannie is accused and she will hang if found guilty. What hope does she have?
The Confessions of Frannie Langton has been commissioned by ITV’s Head of Drama, Polly Hill and ITV Drama Commissioner Chloe Tucker.
