Love Island 'signs up first ever partially sighted contestant'

The latest singleton hoping to find true romance in Love Island is reportedly the franchise’s first ever partially sighted contestant.

Speculation has been mounting about who could be living it up in the villa, with ITV remaining quiet, but the likes of a Boohoo ambassador and a model have been rumoured.

Now another name has been thrown into the mix and they could be potentially quarantining in South Africa, where the winter edition is set.

Hosted for the first time by Maya Jama, who replaces outgoing presenter Laura Whitmore, the Islanders will be looking for love in a luxurious £1.2million pad, complete with an Olympic training pool and 400m running track.

And Ron Hall, a 26-year-old finance worker from Essex, will be among them, it has been reported.

A source said: ‘The casting team are excited by the signing. It’s a really positive move to have more diversity on-screen, especially as there are so few blind people on telly.

They continued to told The Sun: ‘Ron is great guy, he’s got loads of mates and is sports mad, he loves golf and has recently taken up boxing.

‘He’s keen to meet new people and, hopefully, find love.

‘He’s also really open about his disability and is hoping to raise awareness and help others by discussing it on screen.’

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Ron only has a handful of Instagram posts, with the first dating back to 2021, but has shared pictures of himself dressed in Hawaiian shirts with pals and at a Rag’n’Bone Man gig.

If he is to head to South Africa, Ron will be among the first contestants to have to disable their social media accounts during the programme to protect both them and their families in revamped welfare rules.

For the first time, the broadcaster will ask islanders to make their accounts ‘dormant’ while they are in the villa so nothing can be published on their behalf and they avoid ‘the adverse effects of social media’.

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Contestants will also receive ‘guidance and training’ around ‘mutually respectful behaviour in relationships’ after the most recent series prompted thousands of complaints to broadcasting watchdog Ofcom.

Many of the complaints related to ‘alleged misogynistic and bullying behaviour’ although they were not upheld.

Islanders also will be offered resource links to read before meeting the other contestants to help them ‘identify negative behaviours in relationships’ and ‘understand the behaviour patterns associated with controlling and coercive behaviour’.

Metro.co.uk has reached out to ITV for comment.

Love Island returns Monday, January 16 at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.

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