Bookmakers Love Love Island. Will the Public Love Fogarty?
Original Love Islanders – nine current inmates are day one arrivals – are now in their fourth week isolated in a villa nestled in the Franschhoek Valley. The region forms part of South Africa’s Western Cape.
Fifteen contestants are currently in the reckoning for the £50,000 cash prize. It comes with the added bonus of fame, notoriety, and, yes, potentially love. The latest character to join the Love Island cast is Claudia Fogarty.
Carl Fogarty won 59 Superbike races during his career. Afterward, he won I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. Can his daughter, Claudia, continue the family’s winning ways in Love Island? ©GettyImages
At 28, the day-23 arrival is one of the oldest hopefuls to appear in the show. And while late arrivals traditionally struggle to win favor with the voting public, there are grounds to give the blonde some serious consideration – from a punting viewpoint.
Could Claudia Fogarty Win Love Island?
If you are a reality TV fan, the name ‘Fogarty’ may ring some bells. In 2014, four-time World Superbike champion Carl Fogarty took part in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and won the hugely popular show.
The series runner-up was X Factor star Jake Quickenden. He was later engaged to Fogarty’s eldest daughter, Danielle. Claudia is Danielle’s younger sister, and the pair currently run a fashion boutique together.
Many previous female Love Island contestants have declared they have formerly dated a celebrity. For example, this year Lana Jenkins wasted little time in announcing Hollyoaks actor Owen Warner was her ex-boyfriend.
But daughters of celebrities are rare and tend to do well in Love Island. In 2022, Gemma Owen – daughter of footballer Michael Owen – finished runner-up. Three years earlier, Belle Hassan, daughter of actor Tamer Hassan made it to day 56 of proceedings.
Tamer co-starred in 2005’s The Business alongside Danny Dyer. In 2018, his daughter, Dani Dyer, won the fourth series of Love Island. So it is easy to believe Claudia Fogarty can quickly find herself a love interest and carry him over the winning line.
Fun Facts and Things You Need to Know about Love Island
- This is the ninth series of Love Island and the second winter edition. The first winter Love Island was filmed at the start of 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa.
- With more than 269 million streams, last summer’s Love Island became the most-watched series on ITV Hub. Content posted on the Love Island social accounts had a reach of almost two billion.
- Distributed internationally by ITV Studios, the hit show has been commissioned in 25 territories stretching from the UK to the USA and from Greece to Germany.
- Maya Jama is the presenter of the current Love Island series. She took over from Laura Whitmore who quit the show in the summer of 2022 after fronting three series.
- This year’s opening episode attracted 3.38 million viewers. It remains the most-viewed episode of the current series.
- Love Island usually runs for 49 episodes. If producers stick to the tried and tested formula, this year’s show should conclude on March 13.
- Except for Saturdays – when a ‘Love Island: Aftersun’ companion show is broadcast – fans can watch Love Island every night except Saturdays at 9 pm on ITV2. There is also the option to watch episodes on catch-up at ITVX.
How Do the Bookmakers View Love Island 2023?
There are three betting markets on Love Island. Top female, top male, and winning couple. Jessie Wynter – a contestant in Love Island Australia in 2019 – is 4/5 to be the top female with the best Love Island betting sites.
The 26-year-old has been coupled with Will Young since day 10. The farmer from Aylesbury, who is three years her junior, can appear childish. Nevertheless, he is clearly smitten – the pair have ‘done the deed’ – and the punters like him.
Bet365 has Young priced on 4/7 to be the top male. BetVictor offers a more generous 4/5. But the firm that famously became the first bookmaker to offer UK customers tax-free betting, goes a uniform 10/11 about Jessie and Will winning the show together.
Novelty betting sites make Tanya and Shaq 9/2 second favorites in the winning couple market. Coupled from day one, and inseparable ever since, they are the second and only other couple to have admitted to having intercourse in the villa.
