Love Island fans have expressed outrage after the show's traditional lavish final dates were replaced with more frugal in-villa dates in the latest series. The final week of the ITV reality dating show is underway, but Thursday night's episode saw the couples enjoying homemade setups instead of the usual helicopter rides, yacht trips, or fine dining experiences.
In the episode, the male contestants were given cash to buy supplies from a shop, including ready-made pizzas, waffles, teddy bears, and jewellery. They then prepared sweet dates within the villa, while the female contestants enjoyed pamper sessions. However, viewers took to social media to criticise the apparent budget cuts, with some speculating that the money was spent on bringing Joey Essex into the show.
One fan wrote on X: "Wowww what a change in budget do you guys remember the final dates from past seasons this is so sad." Another added: "So was this supposed to replace the final dates??? I knew their budget was low this year but this is bottom barrel." A third commented: "This surely can’t be the final dates ???????? did Love Island blow the bag on Joey ???"
The change comes after the public ranked the remaining couples, resulting in Grace and Reuben being dumped from the island. The remaining couples are Sean and Matilda, Joey and Jessy, Ayo and Jessica, Cieran and Nicole, and Mimii and Josh.
