Love Island bosses are facing a fresh crisis over insurance, we can reveal.
The upcoming series in Majorca is at risk of being scrapped due to coronavirus.
Producers have vowed to take extreme measures to make sure contestants and crew members are as safe as possible during the global pandemic.
But it has emerged insurance companies are refusing to offer to cover the show if it is based outside the UK.
(Image: ITV)
It is feared it could be the final nail in the coffin for the series, and cause it to be pulled.
An ITV insider said: “Producers are looking at ways of making it work. The current plan is to fly crew and contestants out to Majorca two weeks before filming starts and then isolate everyone. But even with these measures, insurance companies won’t offer cover.
“ITV can’t do the series without insurance. If the series is airing and even just one person tests positive for the virus, the whole thing would have to be shut down immediately.
“That’s too much of a risk without insurance.”
(Image: ITV)
Love Island makes big money for ITV through advertising revenue and merchandise.
Bosses are said to be working “around the clock” to find a way of staging the series. TV beauty Laura Whitmore, inset, has been lined up to return as host.
But ITV chief Kevin Lygo last week admitted the show was already at risk because it would be impossible for it to follow social distancing guidelines.
He said: “What signal might it be sending out if we’re doing a show where everybody is crammed together, slavering over each other, and the rest of the world is told ‘Don’t go near anyone in the park’?
“I’m a little uneasy about that, so we will make a decision in a proper way quite soon.”
I’m A Celebrity, which is filmed in Australia, is also at risk.
