Winter Love Island 2023 has been and gone; if you're looking for updates on the latest series, Love Island 2023's summer outing will be on our screens later this year.
While the last series of Love Island was airing, ITV confirmed that two seasons of Love Island would be coming in 2023. Dubbing it "the year of love", the network confirmed that we were getting a double helping of the hit dating show this year along with the new host, Maya Jama.
Winter Love Island was packed with all the usual drama that we've come to expect from the ITV reality series, but a new winning couple has finally been crowned, and the £50,000 cash prize has been split between them!
Read on to find out which couple left the Winter Love Island 2023 villa as the new winning couple.
Who won Winter Love Island 2023?
Kai Fagan and Sanam Harrinanan ended up winning the latest series. This was notable because Sanam is now the first-ever Casa Amor bombshell to have won the show. They secured 44% of the total vote, beating Ron and Lana, Tom and Samie and Shaq and Tanya.
Davide Sanclimenti and Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu were the winners of the 2022 main series. The pair are still together and fronted their own travelogue called Ekin-Su and Davide: Homecomings, where they paid a visit to each other's family homes.
As for the previous winter edition, that series was won by Paige Turley and Finn Tapp.
How to watch Winter Love Island 2023
Winter Love Island 2023 has now aired, but you can catch up with the past season on ITV's streaming service, ITVX.
As with previous seasons, Love Island 2023 was also been released on Hulu in the US, so American viewers can catch up with all the goings-on in the villa over there.
Love Island 2023 lineup: who was in the villa?
We included the original meet the islanders video here, plus the lineup from the final.
Tanya Manhenga
22-year-old Tanya Manhenga is a biomedical science student and influencer from Liverpool. When asked why she signed up this year, Tanya said: "I'm looking for a boyfriend and I think being in a Villa with lots of different people will help me work out who it is I may want."
Kai Fagan
24-year-old Kai Fagan is a science and PE teacher from Manchester, though he also plays semi-professional rugby for Burnage RFC and has played Rugby 7s for Jamaica! When asked why he's single right now, he said: "I’m single by choice. I’m looking for the right girl. I feel like I have quite high expectations. I don’t feel I should commit to someone unless I’m absolutely buzzing over them, because it’s not fair on them."
Lana Jenkins
25-year-old Lana Jenkins is a make-up artist from Luton. Lana says she falls in love quickly, explaining: "I tend to know quite soon if I could fall in love with that person and then, as long as everything is going well, I’ll probably tell them I love them in about a week."
Ron Hall
25-year-old Ron Hall is a financial advisor from Essex who thinks he's going to bring some "fun and charisma" to the villa. As for what his pitch is as a potential match, Ron said: "I'm the most genuine person you'll meet. I'm genuine, caring and I'm a nice person - which you don't find these days."
Shaq Muhammad
Shaq Muhammad is a 24-year-old airport security officer from London. Asked why he wanted to head to the villa, he said: "I haven’t had the best luck with previous relationships. So I thought, why not be in the sun and potentially meet the love of my life? Hopefully I do come out with my future wife. The person I hope to marry one day. Hopefully she’s in the Villa."
Tom Clare
Tom Clare is a 23-year old semi-professional footballer from Barnsley, and he was lucky enough to be voted by the public as the first bombshell to head into the villa. Asked why he signed up, Tom said: "I want to meet someone. It's good going out and having a laugh but I miss sharing stuff. Life's too short. These opportunities don't come around often."
Samie Elishi
Samie Elishi is a 22-year-old Senior Estate Agent Coordinator from London, and she's the most recent addition to the show. Asked why she decided to sign up, Samie said: "All my single friends are starting to settle down, so whenever I suggest a girls’ trip, everyone’s staying in with their boyfriends. I want someone to do that with, too!"
Sanam Harrinanan
Sanam Harrinanan is a 24-year-old social worker from Bedford. She said: "I'm excited to go in there and have some fun. I want to see whose heads I can personally turn."
Who hosted Winter Love Island 2023?
After Laura Whitmore announced that she would be stepping down at the end of Love Island 2022 on Instagram, rumors quickly began to swirl about who might replace her as the next host of Love Island.
It was subsequently confirmed that Maya Jama is the new Love Island host. Lifted Entertainment's Managing Director, Richard Cowles, said of Jama: "There are very few people who could fill the role of Love Island host but Maya Jama has it all and we're very excited to welcome her to Love Island. Not only is she a fantastic presenter, but she is a massive fan of the show. The cast and viewers alike will be thrilled to see her enter the Villa!"
Some of the other popular suggestions for the role included Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu (who is due to appear on Dancing on Ice 2023), ex-islander Maura Higgins and AJ Odudu.
Iain Stirling was also back on hand to provide his hilarious voiceover for Love Island 2023, proving once again that Love Island wouldn't quite be the same without him.
If you're a regular Love Island fan, you'll also be pleased to know that former islander Indiyah Polack is returning to the series in a brand new role! She partnered up with Made in Chelsea's Sam Thompson as the hosting duo of the companion podcast, Love Island: The Morning After.
Is there a Love Island trailer?
The first teaser for Love Island 2023 arrived right at the start of 2023. In it, new host Maya Jama climbs aboard a bucking bronco and says "it's time to grab love by the horns".
What's the Winter Love Island 2023 villa like?
ITV revealed that the new series of Winter Love Island was once again filmed in South Africa.
Mike Spencer, Executive Producer at Lifted Entertainment, said: "After eight brilliant series, we are excited to be serving up two helpings of love in 2023 by kicking off in January at a stunning new villa in South Africa. We can look forward to more romances, bromances and everything in between as we embark on another epic year of love.”
According to a report from The Sun, that new South African villa is the biggest one yet. The new eco-friendly luxury mansion with a massive pool and newly-redesigned firepit. According to their story, the manor has 100 percent off-grid status and generates both its own electricity and water, and it boasts some stunning views of the local landscapes.
What was new for Winter Love Island 2023?
Thanks to the preview for the first episode, we learned that the first coupling up of the series would be slightly different, too: the show was returning to letting the boys choose their first partner of the show.
Similar to previous seasons, the girls arrived one by one, and the lads were asked to step forward to indicate whether they were interested before the girls got the final say to choose their new partner. This was a return to the original format of the show, as the ladies have chosen since season 2.
As part of the show's enhanced duty of care protocols, producers confirmed that islanders have been asked to pause their social media accounts for the duration of their time on the show so that nothing is published either by them or their families during their time in the villa. Along with this change, new islanders will be receiving fresh guidance and training on mutually respective behavior in relationships and will continue to receive training on inclusive language.
