The ninth series of Love Island began broadcasting on 16 January 2023 to 13 March 2023 on ITV2. It is the second winter edition of the series and the first to be presented by Maya Jama, who took over from Laura Whitmore. Iain Stirling returned to narrate the series.
On 13 March 2023, the series was won by Kai Fagan and Sanam Harrinanan with 43.75% of the final vote, becoming the first couple formed during the Casa Amor twist to win the series. Lana Jenkins and Ron Hall finished as runners-up.
Production In June 2022, prior to the conclusion of the previous series, it was confirmed that the show would return for two series to be broadcast in 2023, with ITV announcing that the show would air a winter edition for the first time since 2020, and as in the sixth series, the ninth series would be filmed in Cape Town, South Africa. It was broadcast in January 2023. On 22 August 2022, Laura Whitmore announced she would be stepping down as presenter after three series. Citing her reasons for leaving, Whitmore said she had found "certain elements of the show very difficult" [...] and that flying back and forth to South Africa "conflicted with [her] new projects".
Following media speculation, ITV confirmed Maya Jama as the new presenter on 12 October. Upon her appointment as presenter, Jama said: "I’ve always been such a massive Love Island fan and I'm so excited to be hosting one of the nation's favourite shows! I can't wait to get into the villa to meet all of the Islanders." The winner of the previous series, Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, said she was approached to present the show, but turned it down due to other work commitments. However, a show insider denied the reports and claimed that Jama was the "first pick" to host the series.
The first trailer for the series aired on 26 December 2022, which featured a five-second clip of a spinning bejewelled pink velvet mechanical bull. A full-length trailer was released on 1 January 2023, which included host Jama riding the bull and teasing the series with the tagline "It's time to grab love by the horns, I'm ready, are you?". The series premiered on ITV2 on 16 January 2023, exclusively in the UK and was later available on Hulu in the US after two weeks of broadcast. Islanders The original Islanders for the ninth series were announced on 9 January 2023, one week before the series launch. For the first time Love Island welcomed its first contestant with sight-loss. Ron Hall is a financial advisor who is blind in one eye as a result of a football injury he sustained when he was 8 years old.
On 12 January, it was announced that the public would decide the first "bombshell" of the series and a vote was opened for the viewers to choose between Ellie Spence, a 25-year-old business development executive from Norwich and Tom Clare, a 23-year-old semi-professional footballer from Barnsley. The winner of the vote, and therefore the first ''bombshell'' was Tom.
On 20 January, for the first time it was confirmed that the latest two "bombshells" would be islanders that have already previously appeared on the Australian version of the show. Aaron Waters, who had taken part in the third series, as well as Jessie Wynter who had appeared in the second series.
This series has become the first series since the third series where an islander has not walked or been removed from the villa.
IslanderAgeHometownEnteredExitedStatusRefKai Fagan24ManchesterDay 1 Day 58 Sanam Harrinanan24BedfordDay 29 Day 58 Lana Jenkins 25 Luton Day 1 Day 58 Ron Hall 25 Essex Day 1 Day 58 Samie Elishi 23 Camden Day 14 Day 58 Third place Tom Clare 23 Barnsley Day 1 Day 58 Third place Shaq Muhammad 24 London Day 1 Day 58 Tanya Manhenga 23 Liverpool Day 1 Day 58 Jessie Wynter 26 Hobart, Australia Day 7 Day 56 Will Young 23 Aylesbury Day 1 Day 56 Casey O'Gorman 26 Tring Day 17 Day 51 Rosie Seabrook 24 Bledlow Ridge Day 39 Day 51 Claudia Fogarty 28 Blackburn Day 23 Day 45 Keanan Brand 24 Wigan Day 39 Day 45 Maxwell Samuda 23 London Day 28 Day 45 Olivia Hawkins 27 Brighton Day 1 Day 45 Martin Akinola 27 Dublin Day 28 Day 40 Bayley Mummery 25 Addlestone Day 28 Day 32 Cynthia Otseh-Taiwo 25 London Day 29 Day 32 Frankie Davey 22 Ipswich Day 28 Day 32 Kain Reed 21 Gateshead Day 28 Day 32 Layla Al-Momani 28 London Day 29 Day 32 Lydia Karakyriakou 22 Glasgow Day 29 Day 32 Lynda Flix 22 Salford Day 29 Day 32 Ryan Weekley 22 Nottingham Day 28 Day 32 Sammy James 27 Leicester Day 29 Day 32 Ellie Spence 25 Norwich Day 10 Day 26 Jordan Odofin 28 London Day 17 Day 26 Tanyel Revan 26 London Day 1 Day 24 Aaron Waters 25 Melbourne, Australia Day 7 Day 19 Spencer Wilks 24 Bournemouth Day 10 Day 19 Zara Lackenby-Brown 25 London Day 3 Day 16 Anna-May Robey 20 Swansea Day 1 Day 9 Haris Namani 21 Doncaster Day 1 Day 9 David Salako 24 Little Oakley Day 3 Day 5
Future appearances In 2023, Haris Namani appeared on series 1 of Love Island Albania.
In 2024, Tom Clare and Casey O'Gorman appeared on series one of Love Island: All Stars.
In 2025, Samie Elishi, Ron Hall, Olivia Hawkins, and O'Gorman all returned for series two of Love Island: All Stars. O'Gorman also competed on season two of Love Island Games.
In 2026, Elishi and Shaq Muhammad returned for series three of Love Island: All Stars.
Coupling and elimination history Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Day 1 Day 2 Day 5 Day 9 Day 10 Day 16 Day 19 Day 21 Day 24 Day 26 Day 32 Day 40 Day 45 Day 51 Day 56 Final Kai Tanyel Vulnerable Tanyel Samie Vulnerable Olivia Olivia Vulnerable Sanam Sanam Safe Safe Jessie & Will FinalistWinner(Day 58) Sanam colspan="10" Kai KaiWinner(Day 58) Lana Ron Will Safe Aaron Aaron Immune Casey Ron Safe Ron Ron Safe Safe Jessie & WillLeast compatible FinalistRunner-up(Day 58) Ron Lana Tanyel Safe Ellie Tanyel Safe Tanyel Lana Safe Lana LanaRunner-up(Day 58) Samie colspan="5" Kai Immune Tom Tom Vulnerable Tom Tom Safe Safe Kai & SanamLeast compatible FinalistThird place(Day 58) Tom Olivia Zara Vulnerable Zara Ellie Safe Samie Samie Vulnerable Samie SamieThird place(Day 58) Shaq Tanya Tanya Safe Tanya Tanya Safe Tanya Tanya Safe Single Tanya Vulnerable Vulnerable Lana & RonLeast compatible FinalistFourth place(Day 58) Tanya Shaq Shaq Vulnerable Shaq Shaq Immune Shaq Shaq Safe Martin ShaqFourth place(Day 58) Jessie colspan="3" Anna-May & Haristo dump Will Will Immune Will Will Safe Will Will Safe Vulnerable Lana & RonLeast compatibleEliminatedDumped(Day 56) Will Olivia Single Lana Safe Jessie Jessie Safe Jessie Jessie Safe Jessie JessieDumped(Day 56) Casey colspan="6" Immune Lana Claudia Safe Claudia Rosie VulnerableEliminatedDumped(Day 51) Rosie colspan="11" CaseyDumped(Day 51) Claudia colspan="8" Casey Safe Casey Keanan VulnerableDumped(Day 45) Keanan colspan="11" ClaudiaDumped(Day 45) Maxwell colspan="10" Olivia OliviaEliminatedDumped(Day 45) Olivia Will Tom Haris Safe Spencer Spencer Immune Kai Kai Vulnerable Maxwell MaxwellDumped(Day 45) Martin colspan="10" Tanya SingleDumped(Day 40) Bayley colspan="10" SingleDumped(Day 31) Cynthia colspan="10" SingleDumped(Day 31) Frankie colspan="10" SingleDumped(Day 31) Kain colspan="10" SingleDumped(Day 31) Layla colspan="10" SingleDumped(Day 31) Lydia colspan="10" SingleDumped(Day 31) Lynda colspan="10" SingleDumped(Day 31) Ryan colspan="10" SingleDumped(Day 31) Sammy colspan="10" SingleDumped(Day 31) Ellie colspan="4" Ron Tom Immune Jordan JordanEliminatedDumped(Day 26) Jordan colspan="6" Immune Ellie EllieDumped(Day 26) Tanyel Kai Ron Vulnerable Kai Ron Immune Ron SingleDumped(Day 24) Aaron colspan="3" Anna-May & Haristo dump Lana Lana VulnerableDumped(Day 19) Spencer colspan="4" Olivia Olivia VulnerableDumped(Day 19) Zara colspan="2" Tom Safe Tom SingleDumped(Day 16) Haris Kai VulnerableDumped(Day 9) Haris Anna-May Olivia VulnerableDumped(Day 9) David colspan="2" SingleDumped(Day 5) DumpedNoDumpingDavidNoDumpingZaraAaron,SpencerNoDumpingTanyelBayley,Cynthia,Frankie,Kain,Layla,Lydia,Lynda,Ryan,SammyMartinMaxwell & OliviaJessie & Will2.52% to winSamie & Tom23.65% to winLana & Ron30.08% to winKai & Sanam43.75% to win
Weekly summary The main events in the Love Island villa are summarised in the table below.
Entrances On Day 1, Anna-May, Haris, Kai, Lana, Olivia, Ron, Shaq, Tanya, Tanyel, Tom and Will entered the villa. On Day 3, David and Zara entered the villa. Coupling On Day 1, the Islanders coupled up for the first time. After all of the boys entered, the girls were asked to choose a boy to pair up with. Anna-May coupled up with Haris, Lana paired up with Ron, Olivia with Will, Tanya with Shaq, and Tanyel with Kai. On Day 2, Tom, who entered after the coupling, had to steal one girl for himself. He chose Olivia, leaving Will single. On Day 5, the islanders recoupled for the first time with the girls picking which boy they'd like to be with. Tanya and Shaq remained together, meanwhile Anna-May chose Kai, Zara coupled up with Tom, Olivia went with Haris, Tanyel picked Ron, and Lana opted with Will. As David was the only boy not picked he was dumped from the island. Challenges On Day 2, the girls and the boys competed against each other in "Dirty Laundry", in which they had to guess which islander a fact was about. To make their guess they had kiss the islander they believe is the answer. Dates On Day 3, new islanders David and Zara each picked an islander to take on a date. David chose Tanya, whilst Zara dated Ron. Exits On Day 5, David was dumped from the island after failing to couple up. Week 2 Entrances On Day 7, Aaron and Jessie entered the villa. On Day 10, Ellie and Spencer entered the villa. Coupling On Day 10, the islanders recoupled again with the boys picking which girl they'd like to be with. However, as new islanders, both Ellie and Spencer were given first choice. Ellie picked Ron, whilst Spencer coupled up with Olivia. As well as this, Shaq and Tanya, and Tom and Zara remained together, meanwhile Kai chose Tanyel, Will picked Jessie, and Aaron went with Lana. Challenges On Day 9, the girls competed against each other in "Space Raunch", in which the boys picked which girl was the most "out of this world". Zara won the challenge. Dates On Day 8, new islanders Aaron and Jessie each picked two islanders to take on a date. Aaron chose Olivia and Lana, whilst Jessie chose Will and Tom. On Day 12, new islanders Ellie and Spencer each went on a date with their new partners, Ron and Olivia. Exits On Day 9, after receiving the fewest public votes, Anna-May, Tanya and Tanyel, and Haris, Kai and Tom were in danger of being dumped. New islanders Aaron and Jessie then had to choose one boy and one girl to dump from the island. They chose Anna-May and Haris. Week 3 Entrances On Day 14, Samie entered the villa. On Day 17, Casey and Jordan entered the villa. Coupling On Day 16, the islanders recoupled again with the boys picking which girl they'd like to be with. Aaron and Lana, Shaq and Tanya, Spencer and Olivia, and Will and Jessie all remained together, meanwhile Kai chose Samie, Ron coupled up with Tanyel, and Tom went with Ellie. As Zara was the only girl not picked she was dumped from the island. Challenges On Day 18, the girls competed in a snogging challenge. The girls kissed each boy in turn whilst the boys were blindfolded and gave them a score out of ten. Dates On Day 15, Jessie and Will left the villa to go on a date. On Day 17, new Islanders Casey and Jordan were asked to choose three other islanders to take on dates. Casey chose Lana, Olivia and Jessie, whilst Jordan picked Tanyel, Samie and Olivia. Exits On Day 16, Zara was dumped from the island after failing to couple up.