Love Island: Iain Stirling says he thought the series would be cancelled after one or two years

‘It was so expensive to make,’ explained the presenter

Iain Stirling, narrator of the ITV2 reality TV series Love Island, says he first thought the series would not last more than one or two seasons.

While Love Island originally ran for just two series in 2005 and 2006, Stirling joined the show after it was rebooted in 2015, at which point it became a ratings hit, with the new incarnation currently midway through its seventh season.

Speaking to iNews, Stirling recalled his original reaction to landing the role as the series’ droll narrator.

“We were all going to Magaluf and having an absolute jolly,” he said. “We thought it had one series, maybe two – it was so expensive to make.”

The presenter and comedian also spoke about his reputation for snark, saying: “People think I’m a lot more brutal than I am. If you go through the last six series, I’ve never said I don’t like anyone or been nasty about them.

“That’s how the show works,” he added. “If I started talking about how awful everyone was from day one, where do you go from there? I make puns out of their names or their jobs, maybe I’ll say someone doesn’t talk enough – that’s the one the islanders get annoyed about.”

Love Island continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2