ITV trims Love Island All Stars budget as Cape Town villa is replaced with cheaper option
Cost-cutting drives a downgrade from a luxury Cape Town mansion to a budget villa as Love Island All Stars returns; Maya Jama’s contract remains unresolved amid broader belt-tightening.
ITV is tightening costs for the upcoming Love Island All Stars edition, scrapping the show's lavish Ludus Magnus mansion in Cape Town and replacing it with a cheaper villa as part of a broad belt-tightening drive. While the January return is expected to draw strong audiences, hosts and staff are feeling the impact of the network's budget push, including uncertainty around host Maya Jama’s contract.
Traditionally, cameras would return to Ludus Magnus, which reportedly cost about £4,000 per night. The new housing for islanders will be Midden Cottage, last used in the 2020 winter series, at roughly £640 per night. The downgrade is among the starkest examples yet of ITV's tightening budget, even as plans for All Stars remain in place.
Talks around Jama's deal have been described as delayed by complications in her team, with insiders noting she remains in demand and enjoys presenting Love Island, leading to optimism contract talks will be sorted soon.
ITV's belt-tightening extends to on-air talent and scheduling. Charlotte Hawkins, a fixture on Good Morning Britain since 2014, is understood to be moving away from an exclusive GMB contract to a broader role across ITV, reading news across the schedule from lunchtime bulletins to News at Ten.
Other cutbacks have been disclosed behind the scenes. Staff at GMB were told to bring their own breakfasts to work, and the network's new offices reportedly ban toasters for health and safety reasons, prompting discussions among presenters including Susanna Reid.
ITV’s daytime lineup is also undergoing a consolidation. Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women will from January share a single studio at The H Club Studio in Covent Garden, a former private members' club. The new space will accommodate almost 900 hours of live daytime programming per year, with a single gallery and LED backdrops that allow rapid transitions between shows.
Executives say the move offers cost savings and greater flexibility for other ITV series to use the space outside daytime hours, while also maintaining the potential to attract large audiences for the network's flagship daytime brands.
Together, the measures reflect a wider belt-tightening across ITV as it braces for the new year, with producers hoping All Stars can still deliver high ratings even as production costs are trimmed.