January 12 2026 16:00
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
Love Island, the British reality TV show was supposed to bring its latest All Stars season to the air tonight but while filming in beautiful Franschhoek offers one of the country’s stunning backdrops and activities for the contestants to do on their dates, wildfires have broken out in recent weeks which has postponed the party.
“Further to a production evacuation owing to ongoing wildfires in the area, our assessment of the location site has concluded that filming will need to be postponed. Health and safety is our greatest priority and will always come first, and therefore the transmission of Love Island: All Stars will be delayed until a date to be confirmed,” production group ITV said.
Love Island is a British reality show which has filmed seasons across different glamorous locations around the world. The contestants stay in a house and must then couple up and avoid getting voted out as they play for a stack of cash. The producers chose to use Cape Town as a spot some six years ago, starting with a house in Constantia. Even though it was a house in the inland suburbs, the show was made to look like the residents were at the sea. They did later move to Franschhoek. The Franschhoek home is in the Ludus Magnus Estate, in Franschhoek’s “Millionaire’s Row”. Ludus Magnus estate is a 25-acre resort, located near Cape Town. It costs £9,000 a night to hire the villa.
Cape Town’s residents struggle with fires especially during the dry summer season. It is possible that Love Island will start filming next Monday, January 19. The show is hosted by TV host and radio DJ Maya Jama and features narration from comedian Iain Stirling. His wife Laura Whitmore hosted Love Island (UK) from the Winter 2020 series through Summer 2022, taking over from Caroline Flack for three seasons (Winter 2020, Summer 2021 and Summer 2022).
alistair@propertyflash.co.za
