The new series of Love Island is well and truly underway, and there have been a fair few surprises already, including a public-voted coupling, a shocking exit and the introduction of a new bombshell who is the ex of another contestant.
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But have you ever wondered why the programme doesn’t air on Saturday nights? The question has eluded viewers ever since the show began airing back in 2015 - and we have the answer.
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Viewers are sadly deprived of an instalment of the addictive reality-dating show on Saturday nights, despite airing on all six other days of the week.
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Instead, for those desperate to see more from inside the villa, Love Island: Unseen Bits airs from 9pm to 10.05pm on ITV2 on Saturday evenings, featuring behind-the-scenes content from the villa.
© Photo: ITVThere's a very good reason why a new episode does not air on Saturdays
The reason why there is no episode on Saturdays is not simply because that's the evening most viewers at home will be cracking on and coupling up themselves but to allow the contestants a 'day off'. The Islanders reportedly spend their Saturdays with their mics off and out of the villa so that cleaners can go in and give it a tidy.
"What happens is, it gives them a day to clean the villa, and you take your mics off, and normally we go to the beach," previous winner Kem Cetinay told This Morning viewers back in 2017.
© Photo: ITVThe villa is reportedly cleaned on Saturdays
"So what happens is, when you take your mic off, you are not allowed to talk about anything to do with the show, you have to talk about home life," he continued. "You are being watched by the producers because they don't want you to talk about what is going on. They are quite careful about what you talk about, because they want to keep it so everyone at home can see it."
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However, 2019 contestant Amy Hart disputed this, telling Closer Online that the contestants actually have their "microphones the whole time".
She explained: "Saturday isn't a day off. We don't have days off, we have our microphones the whole time. Every day I was in there I was mic'd and filmed."
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