An Irish GAA star, a detective and a nurse walk into a villa: What you need to know about Love Island 2026
This season's love island OGs have been revealed. The show will air on Monday, June 1. Picture: Love Island/ITV.
Galway senior footballer Seán Fitzgerald is among the contestants confirmed for the new season of reality TV show
Fitzgerald, 25, is one of 12 OG Islanders who will get to know one another in the Mallorcan villa over the coming weeks, their antics being broadcast on our television screens from June 1.
Ahead of the first episode next Monday, here's what you need to know about season 13.
A summer series means contestants are back in the Spanish villa, located in Sant Llorenç des Cardassar, Mallorca, which has become an iconic landmark in reality TV.
Virgin Media Ireland recently confirmed that 2026 will start on Monday, June 1.
The show will air episodes six nights per week from Sunday through to Friday, for about eight weeks.
Presenter Maya Jama will return as host this year. Jama took over as host of UK back in season 9.
When asked how it feels to be back in Mallorca for a new series of Jama said: “There’s something quite cinematic about returning to Mallorca each summer - it’s familiar, but never predictable. Every series resets the energy completely. New people, new dynamics.”
Speaking about what it is that connects the show with its audience, she said: “At its core, it’s about human behaviour. Attraction, rejection, ego, vulnerability - it’s all there, just heightened. People see reflections of themselves, even in the most unexpected places.”
Sharing some advice to the new batch of Islanders entering the villa, she said: “Stay open, stay curious, and don’t be afraid to be true to yourself - it usually leads somewhere more interesting than playing it perfectly.”
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The OG Islanders of season 13 were confirmed on Tuesday, but it can be assumed that bombshells are waiting in the wings to make their appearance on the show.
Among them is Galway senior footballer and primary school teacher, Seán Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald was not part of Galway’s matchday squad for last Sunday’s Connacht SFC final defeat to Roscommon in King & Moffat Dr Hyde Park, nor was he one of the four standby players.
Known also for his social media profile primarily on TikTok, Fitzgerald is signed to Marvel, an Irish talent and influencer management agency.
In February, Fitzgerald published a TikTok video where he expressed his interest in appearing on the show.
The Bearna clubman made his senior debut for Galway in 2022 and his first SFC appearance a year later. He started the ’24 All-Ireland final and has won four consecutive Connacht SFC championship medals.
After being confirmed as a contestant for the 13th series of the programme, Fitzgerald told Virgin Media he was entering the show "for love but also here for drama".
"I won’t be getting involved in it, I might be mixing it,” he said.
Other OG Islanders include: Robyn, 21, a quantity surveyor and DJ from Liverpool; Angelista, 24, a nurse from Staffordshire; Ope, 27, a West End performer from Lincolnshire; Mica, 21, a student from Barbados who lives in London; Ellie, 24, a real estate videographer from West Lothian; Samuel, 25, an electrician from Dudley; Jasmine, 27, a fashion business owner from Dubai who now lives in London; Lola, 28, a detective from Kent; Aidan, 23, a property broker from Kent; Lorenzo, 28, a business owner from Hertfordshire; and Samraj, 25, a model from Birmingham.
Irish influencer Charleen Murphy recently jetted off on a trip abroad, amid rumours that she is set to become a bombshell.
Despite being widely speculated as one of the original contestants, Murphy was not included in the OG lineup, but speculation is growing about whether she will be among this season’s bombshells.
On Wednesday, she took to her Instagram stories to post a photo of her meal arriving at the airport.
“Let’s go to Portofinooo,” she wrote, confirming that she was heading to Italy.
Only time will tell if she will appear on our screens, but a recent friendship with last year’s contestant Lucinda Strafford has further raised people’s suspicions.
- returns Monday, June 1 at 9pm on Virgin Media Play and Virgin Media Two.
