Love Island bosses launching booze and ready meals themed on hit ITV show
Love Island bosses are reaching for a slice of the action by launching a range of themed booze and ready meals.
The ITV2 show is famed for flashing bikini bods and six-packs – but ITV execs plan to start filling supermarket shelves with Love Island wines, spirits, beers and soft drinks plus nuts, crisps, chocolate and buns after being granted trademarks to sell the grub.
Lawyers have passed an application for trademarks across four different classes of food.
Dozens of edible items, including ready meals, sauces and dressings, dips, jams, soup and even fish paste will have protection for 10 years.
The Intellectual Property Office decision blocks other retailers from using the Love Island name and cashing in on the show’s popularity.
Corrie's Sue Cleaver says I'm A Celebrity stint helped her to push boundariesIt is not the first time that producers have taken advantage of the show’s brand to profit from merchandise.
Personalised water bottles, suitcases and vanity bags have been for sale since the programme started in 2015.
Love Island returns next Monday with its winter series in South Africa.
It will be filmed at a lavish £1.2 million villa with rugby pitch and zip line.
The sporty estate is named Ludus Magnus after a Gladiator school in ancient Rome that trained slaves to fight to the death.
Maya Jama, 28, will host after Laura Whitmore, 37, stepped down after three series.
She revealed she quit after struggling to remain impartial. She told Psychologies mag: “I couldn’t support [the contestants] or not support them. I couldn’t say anything.
“If I could [have done] things the way I wanted to, I’d probably still be doing it.”