The Love Island host told fans: “We are back up and running” as the show gets back on track after a series of devastating setbacks.
Love Island is finally going ahead after raging wildfires in South Africa forced the show off air. Host Maya Jama posed in a very glamorous white gown at the TV villa after announcing that the latest All Stars series will return on Thursday night.
Speaking to fans in a video shared on social media, she said: “We are back up and running. I’m obviously in glam – I’m going to the villa to start filming in a minute.”
Love Island All Stars – which sees past contestants return for another shot at finding romance – was supposed to start on Monday. It had to be delayed after fires meant the area around the TV villa was evacuated while emergency services battled the blaze.
While the cast had not yet arrived at the villa in Franschhoek – a famous wine region near South Africa’s second-largest city Cape Town – the crew were onsite ahead of filming beginning.
ITV said at the time: “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.”
There was drama for Maya, 31, back at the hotel too after she was woken by a “big black beetle” dropping with a thud onto her bed. She told followers: “He won. I slept on the sofa with a blanket over my head.”
The star, who is dating Man City’s Ruben Dias, added: “This is the face of someone who didn’t go to sleep until literally 4am because I couldn’t relax. I felt like it was going to jump.”
Things also started badly for Maya at the show’s launch, when she was forced to bow out with illness – and the star explained she was still suffering when she got on the flight to go to South Africa.
In an Instagram post she said: ‘Used to spend this flight on the reds chatting away to the flight crew, but entering this year wholesome… Lol truthfully the flu came in last minute to kick my ass for the last 24hrs. Vitamin c’d up and praying the sun deletes it all.”
The cast of Love Island All Stars 2026 was confirmed earlier this month. It included Millie Court from series 7, who found love that sadly didn’t last, and Charlie Frederick from series 4.
Source: Mirror
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