ITV has revealed the first 12 Islanders heading into the Love Island villa, setting the cast for season 13 just hours before the dating show returns on Itv2 and ITVX. The new run begins on Monday 1 June at 9pm, and the lineup now gives viewers their first clear look at who will be chasing romance from the start.
Among the names announced is Lorenzo Alessi, a 28-year-old business owner from Hertfordshire who had just under 6,000 followers on Instagram at the time of reporting. He enters the villa with a quick read on the game: he says he believes all is fair in love and war, and describes himself as a self deprecating person.
That attitude may matter as much as any first impression. Alessi said he would even encourage another Islander to go and speak to a girl he was also interested in, adding that sometimes it ends up working through reverse psychology. In a show built on awkward graft, shifting loyalties and early confidence, that is not a throwaway line.
He has also been unusually specific about what catches his eye. His type traditionally is a blonde, he said, while he also has a penchant for “a posh girl.” Then he narrowed it further, saying he looks for a girl’s arms and calling that preference “really strange,” before adding that he finds a Jessica Alba or Angelina Jolie kind of arm and neck very elegant.
The reveal matters because Love Island’s opening group often sets the tone for the first week, before bombshell arrivals start changing the dynamics. The show is returning for a 13th season in summer 2026, and the first cast announcement gives the audience something concrete to weigh before the cameras even start rolling inside the villa.
What remains unknown is who else will join them once the series gets underway. The first 12 Islanders are now public, but the rest of the lineup — and the bombshells waiting to shake it up — are still to come when Love Island returns on Monday night at 9pm on Itv2 and ITVX.
