ITV's new Love Island reality show started tonight (they've dropped the 'Celebrity' prefix, which in some of the participants' cases is a wise move). Star Trip will be tracking the ups, the downs, and hopefully the ups-and-downs of desert island life throughout the series. Well, it beats Big Brother anyway. Read on for some first impressions:
1. Sophie Anderton has already been in tears twice, after nobody picked her in the initial coupling off. For heaven's sake. That said, wouldn't it have been better if they had more women than men, forcing one bloke to be left out? At least it might get a bit Lord Of The Flies.
2. I bet it only takes two minutes after meeting any woman before Chris Brosnan mentions that his dad's James Bond. I can't see how else he'd pull, anyway. He looks like a younger, squarer Suggs out of Madness.
3. Victoria Hervey isn't as nice as her sister, who was on last year. Does this mean they've run out of Herveys, or is there another one lined up for next year's show?
4. Did all of these famous people skive geography at school? Honestly, if they can't work out where Spain is on a world-map during a simple task, how are they expected to identify a cumulus cloud or oxbow lake? Tsk.
5. Who's the little blond fella? I thought he was out of S Club 7, but now I'm not so sure.
6. They all seem to be taking far too much care over their hair. Do they have a separate desert island full of styling products and tongs? A week of salt-water and fresh air should sort that out (although I'm worried what it'll do to Alicia Douvall's face).
7. Fearne Cotton can carry off a pair of shorts with aplomb. Patrick Kielty is wearing jeans, so I'll reserve judgement on him. But Fearne, mmm...
8. No candidates as yet for this year's Paul Danan character (i.e. boggle-eyed leg-humping sex-pest). Although Brendan Cole's got potential.
9. The fish in the background of the interview room are cool. They're actually more interesting than anything any of the celebrities have said so far in there too.
10. Leo Ihenacho is not very macho. Fancy sending Alicia Douvall up a palm tree to grab coconuts, then bawling like a baby all the way up (and down) when you try to follow suit. She seems like a trooper, completely against expectations. She's my early tip to win. [Stuart Dredge]
