Love Island have made a huge change for the 2021 series and we’re so here for it

Potential Islanders have expressed their surprise at the discovery

love island lgbtq applications

by Bonnie McLaren |
Updated on

If you're as obsessed with Love Island as we are, then you'll know that a new series is coming this summer. But one thing that might surprise you is that the recruitment process - currently ongoing - is open to members of the LGBTQ+ community.

This year, potential contestants have been able to apply via Tinder, with ads showing up on the dating platform, not only for straight singletons, but also for both men and women looking for same sex partners - much to their surprise.

The show, after all, seems pretty heteronormative in its pursuit of true love between a man and a woman.

love island lgbtq applications
©© ITV Pictures

However, a representative for ITV has insisted that this rule has always been in place and being straight has never been a condition of being on Love Island.

"Our only stipulation for applicants on Love Island is that they are over 18, single and looking for love," they stated.

That makes sense as Katie Salmon and Sophie Gradon coupled up in the 2016 season. But it's never been made quite so clear that you can be LGBTQ+ and enter the show. It's nice to see that established, at least.

CHECK OUT Love Island winners - where are they now?

Gallery

Love Island winners - where are they now slider

Jayne Middlemiss1 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 Getty Images

2005 - Celebrity Love Island - Jayne Middlemiss

TV presenter and model Jayne Middlemiss was the first person to win Celebrity Love Island, alongside Fran Cosgrave. Nothing happened between the pair when they left the villa, with Jayne continuing with work in TV, including shows such as Celebrity Masterchef and Pointless. She's now a radio presenter!

Fran Cosgrave2 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 Getty Images

2005 - Celebrity Love Island - Fran Cosgrave

Fran Cosgrave, who is the former Westlife bodyguard, went on to land his own spin-off TV show alongside Calum Best and Paul Danan, before releasing his autobiography in 2006. Fran dated Atomic Kitten singer Natasha Hamilton, with the pair welcoming a son together, but they've since split.

Calum Best3 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 Getty Images

2006 - Celebrity Love Island - Calum Best

Despite being on the show in 2005, Calum Best re-entered the Celebrity Love Island villa in 2006, this time winning the show alongside Geordie girl Bianca Gascoigne.

Calum Best4 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 Getty Images

2006 - Celebrity Love Island - Calum Best

Since leaving the villa in 2006, Calum has kept himself in the spotlight, appearing on a number of other shows such as Celebrity Big Brother and Famously Single. In 2018 it was being reported that Calum was dating Hannah Murrell, despite the model being 16 years younger than the 38-year-old.

Bianca Gascoigne5 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 Getty Images

2006 - Celebrity Love Island - Bianca Gascoigne

Entering the Celebrity Love Island villa as a glamour model in 2006, Bianca won the show alongside Calum Best.

Bianca Gascoigne6 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 Getty Images

2006 - Celebrity Love Island - Bianca Gascoigne

Although nothing materialised romantically between Bianca and Calum outside of the show, the model went on to achieve success, appearing on shows such as Gladiators, Celebrity Big Brother and Celebrity Coach Trip.She even auditioned for The X Factor in 2012!

Jess Hayes and Max Morley7 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 ITV

2015 - Love Island: Jess Hayes and Max Morley

When Love Island returned to our TV screens in 2015, with host Caroline Flack, Jess Hayes and Max Morley were crowned the winners, taking home a massive £50,000 each.Just 40 days after leaving the villa, the pair split up, leaving viewers of the show heartbroken.

Jess Hayes8 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 Getty Images

2015 - Love Island: Jess Hayes

Despite splitting from Max, a few years later Jess found true happiness with her boyfriend Dan Lawry. The pair welcomed their first child together in 2019, a baby boy called Presley James Lawry.

Max Morley9 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 Getty Images

2015 - Love Island: Max Morley

Max has kept himself relatively out of the spotlight since he won the show, but in recent months he's been dating Love Island 2018 star Laura Anderson.

Cara de la Hoyde and Nathan Massey10 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 ITV

2016 - Love Island: Cara de la Hoyde and Nathan Massey

After coupling up on Day One of Love Island 2016, it was love at first sight for Cara de la Hoyde and Nathan Massey, who went on to beat Olivia Buckland and Alex Bowen in the series two final.

Cara de la Hoyde and Nathan Massey11 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 Getty Images

2016 - Love Island: Cara de la Hoyde and Nathan Massey

Despite splitting for a short period, Cara and Nathan rekindled their romance after discovering Cara was expecting the couple's first baby. After Cara gave birth to baby Freddie, Nathan then proposed to his girl back in the Love Island villa, with the pair getting married in 2019. A true Love Island fairytale!

Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies12 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 ITV

2017 - Love Island: Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies

It didn't take long for Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies to couple up on Love Island series three, with the pair going on to win the show ahead of Chris Hughes and Olivia Attwood.Despite this, the pair ended their romance just before Christmas in 2017, but they have remained friends!

Kem Cetinay13 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 Getty Images

2017 - Love Island: Kem Cetinay

He's a single boy, but that hasn't stopped Kem going on to achieve great things. As well as landing a record deal with his Love Island BFF Chris Hughes (and a TV show to follow), Kem appeared on Dancing On Ice and now he's joined This Morning as their showbiz reporter. In 2019 he was also unveiled as Primark's first ever male ambassador.

Amber Davies14 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 Getty Images

2017 - Love Island: Amber Davies

Despite being romantically linked with the likes of Chris Clark and Liam Payne, Amber has remained single since her split from Kem.Pursuing her dream of being on stage, Amber landed her dream role in Dolly Parton's West End musical 9 To 5 alongside the likes of Louise Redknapp, and she's received amazing reviews.

Jack Fincham and Dani Dyer15 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 ITV

2018 - Love Island: Jack Fincham and Dani Dyer

The nation fell in love with Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham when they coupled up and won Love Island in 2018. Despite high hopes for the couple, Dani and Jack announced they'd split up in April 2019.

Dani Dyer16 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 Getty Images

2018 - Love Island: Dani Dyer

Just weeks after her split from Jack, Dani started dating her ex-boyfriend Sammy Kimmence, and the pair look super loved-up on social media. As well as this, the reality star has reportedly made more than £1 million since she left the villa, with various clothing deals, Instagram posts and her own eyelash product.

Jack Fincham17 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 Getty Images

2018 - Love Island: Jack Fincham

After his split from Dani, Jack joined the cast of series seven of Celebs Go Dating, in an attempt to find his perfect girl. Jack has also teamed up with brands like McDonald's and Protein World, and his debut clothing line is due out later in 2019.

Amber Gill and Greg O'Shea18 of 24
CREDIT: u00a9 Getty Images

2019 - Love Island: Amber Gill and Greg O'Shea

After getting her heart broken by Michael Griffiths, Amber Gill was swept off her feet when Irish hunk Greg O'Shea entered the villa with just two weeks to go! Despite only knowing each other for 12 days, Greg and Amber were crowned winners of the 2019 series, beating Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae for the Love Island crown.

2019 - Love Island: Amber Gill19 of 24
CREDIT: Getty

2019 - Love Island: Amber Gill

Although Amber and Greg appeared to leave the villa on good terms vowing to stay together and split the cash prize, their relationship didn't last with their split announced just five weeks after they left the show.In the time since Amber has gone on to have a successful career as a model and influencer and has a whopping 2.6M followers on Instagram.

2019 - Love Island: Greg O'Shea20 of 24
CREDIT: Getty

2019 - Love Island: Greg O'Shea

Since leaving the show greg has continued to pursue his successful sporting career and has seen lots of success. He even competed in last years Olympic Games (WOW).

2020- Love Island: Paige Turley and Finn Tapp21 of 24
CREDIT: ITV

2020 - Love Island: Paige Turley and Finn Tapp

Paige Turley and Finn Tapp won the first (and potentially only) series of Love Island to take place in South Africa. They beat favourites Siânnise Fudge and Luke Trotman and left the show on strong form, deciding to split the £50,000 with Luke announcing he wanted to spend his winnings on a home for him and Paige (awww).

2020- Love Island: Paige Turley and Finn Tapp22 of 24
CREDIT: Getty

2020 - Love Island: Paige Turley and Finn Tapp

Paige and Finn have been together ever since and by all accounts seem to be going strong. We guess love is real...

Millie Court and Liam Reardon23 of 24
CREDIT: ITV

2021 - Love Island: Millie Court and Liam Reardon

Millie Court and Liam Reardon hit it off from the get go but went through a rough patch following Casa Amor. However Liam managed to win Millie around and they won the seventh season.

2021 - Love Island: Millie Court and Liam Reardon24 of 24
CREDIT: Getty Images

2021 - Love Island: Millie Court and Liam Reardon

They left the show loved up and have since moved in together. While there has been rumours floating around that they might have split, Millie has shut down the speculation.

love island lgbtq applications
©ITV Pictures

So, how does the recruitment process via Tinder work? "From the 22nd March, singletons on Tinder can apply for this summer’s series by making just one Swipe Right in-app, making their Tinder profile the first audition," Tinder says.

"Swipe Cards will appear in between Tinder{ =nofollow}members' stack of potential matches - so all they need to do is Swipe Right on the Swipe Card and their official Tinder profile will be submitted to the Tinder team for review and verification.

"If the Tinder profile is then selected by the Tinder team, Love Island hopefuls will be contacted via email by Tinder. The email will ask for confirmation of details, and as soon as these are completed and returned, the Tinder member will be added to a prioritised list for the Love Island casting team."

Sounds like a speedy way to get noticed by the casting team, tbh.

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In other Love Island news, bosses have reportedly given the go-ahead for the show to return to its original home in Majorca although the 2021 series will start three weeks later than usual on 28 June.

Despite rumours that the show could take place in the UK for the first time, cast and crew are said to be flying out to quarantine on the Spanish island for a week before the series launch.

A TV insider revealed, “Crew members are scheduled to fly out to Majorca on June 20 – with the series expected to launch a week later.

“The delayed launch date will not have an impact on the length of the series, with the show still running for a duration of eight weeks.”

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