Launch date and teaser for season two of Love is Blind UK unveiled
Hosted by husband and wife duo Matt and Emma Willis, the first four episodes of the second season will land on the streaming platform on 13 August, with the following four launching on 20 August.
The final two episodes will be released on 27 August.
The show will feature UK and Ireland-based singles who will "choose someone to marry without ever meeting them".
Netflix said of the series: "Over several weeks, the newly engaged couples will move in together, plan their wedding and find out if their physical connection matches their strong emotional bond developed in the Pods.
"When their wedding day arrives, will real-world realities and external factors push them apart, or will they marry the person they fell blindly in love with?"
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The Irish Sun
20 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
Love Island's controversial bombshell Harrison reveals his mum's reaction to his villa behaviour after he quit show
LOVE Island bombshell Harrison Solomon has revealed his mum gave him a "grilling" for his eyebrow-raising conduct on the matchmaking series. The footballer, 22, was embroiled in a for most of his villa stay, breaking both their hearts along the way. 6 Love Island's Harrison Solomon has revealed his family's reaction to his controversial villa stint Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 6 His love triangle with Toni, pictured, and Lauren raised eyebrows Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 6 Harrison, seen with Lauren, told how his mum had given him a 'grilling' Credit: Shutterstock Editorial After Lauren was dumped, Harrison did some soul-searching and Yet on his return to reality, he was subject to criticism from charity Women's Aid, who called out the fact he pleaded with Toni to pick him in a recoupling hours after having sex with Lauren. Now, Harrison has told how eyebrows were raised within his own family, too. In a chat with read more love island "So, especially now I'm on there, they have watched every episode to be honest. They saw everything which is not ideal. "But yeah, they were watching along. They said they were very proud of me and how I acted in there. "I obviously got a little grilling from mum when I got back as well. 'Just about the way I had been in the villa which is understandable as well." Most read in Love Island Yet he defended his intention underpinning his actions and added: "I knew there was going to be a bit of backlash coming away from the show. "But I feel like as long as Lauren and I know where we stand with each other, and like she said the communication is key and we speak about how we are feeling. Love Island's Harrison reveals why he's NOT gone official with Lauren - despite plans to move in together "Those comments from the outside are never going to get to me but I obviously worry about Lauren's perception on things. But I feel like she's taken it well." CLAP BACK Harrison recently spoke out about the criticism from Women's Aid. The organisation flagged "toxic behaviours" in a stark message posted to social media. They wrote: "In recent years, Love Island and other forms of reality TV have been repeatedly called out by viewers for allowing in contestants that had a history of abusive, coercive and manipulative behaviour in previous relationships. Love Island 2025 full lineup : A 30-year-old footballer with charm to spare. : A 22-year-old Manchester-based model, ready to turn heads. : A payroll specialist from Southampton, looking for someone tall and stylish. : International business graduate with brains and ambition. : A gym enthusiast with a big heart. : A Londoner with celebrity connections, aiming to find someone funny or Northern. : A personal trainer and semi-pro footballer, following in his footballer father's footsteps. : A towering 6'5' personal trainer. : A 25-year-old Irish rugby pro. : Love Island's first bombshell revealed as sexy Las Vegas pool party waitress. : The 24-year-old bombshell hails from London and works as a commercial banking executive. : Pro footballer and model entering Love Island 2025 as a bombshell. Giorgio Russo : The 30-year-old will be spending his summer in the sun, potentially his sister Alessia's successful tournament at the Euros in Switzerland. : Professional DJ from Manchester who appeared on X Factor 2016 in girl group Four of Diamonds. : Miss Bikini Ireland 2019 winner who hails from Dublin and works as a nail technician and personal trainer. Emma Munro: Harry Cooksley's ex who entered as a bombshell and works as a hydrogeologist. Departures : : Axed after an arrest over a machete attack emerged. He was released with no further action taken and denies any wrongdoing. : A model and motivational speaker who has overcome adversity after suffering life-changing burns in an accident. : A boxer with striking model looks, seeking love in the villa. : A teaching assistant from Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, who entered Love Island 2025 as a bombshell . : Works as a scaffolder day-to-day and plays semi-pro football on the side. Poppy Harrison: The bombshell broke up with her boyfriend after finding out she would be in the villa Will Means : The fourth fittest farmer in the UK according to Farmers' Weekly in 2023 entered the villa as a bombshell : An Irish actress part of the OG line-up. : 23-year-old personal banker from Glasgow who fancies herself as a 'good flirt'. : 27-year-old gym hunk who entered the show as a bombshell . "As a result, production companies have been more careful when it comes to selecting contestants and calling out toxic behaviours when we see them." They added: "'Women are often lied to, slut-shamed and manipulated, as well as laughed at behind their backs. "Misogyny and sexism lay the foundation for the tolerance of abuse and violence - it reinforces a culture that excuses and trivialises violence against women and girls. "More must be done to educate contestants on sexism and misogyny, and it is a great credit to viewers who take to social media, continuing to call out these behaviours as soon as they see them." Harrison spoke out against the charity's stark words and previously said to "I would disagree with a lot of it in terms of my respect for women, I do respect women. "The worst has been from Women's Aid. "I know myself and the girls on the show too, Toni said she knows I'm not a bad person, just went about situations in the wrong way, but the Women's Aid statement wasn't nice... it's not nice coming out of the villa to my mum upset by that so I would say that's been the hardest.' Meanwhile, Miami-based Harrison recently 6 Harrison said his mum's reaction had been 'understandable' Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 6 Women's Aid flagged 'toxic behaviours' displayed in the villa Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 6 Harrison left the villa 24 hours after show partner Lauren was given the boot Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Beloved Baileys Irish Cream cows from Wicklow to star in new film
The latest offering by the Carlow director is his love letter to Irish produce, featuring surprising discoveries, connections and Irish influences across the globe, from Prince Albert of Monaco's ties to the Guinness family to our underappreciated contributions to wine making. Surprising viewers who think of Ireland as just the home of Guinness and Irish stew, the cast of A Sip of Irish includes a range of artisans and public figures, including Midleton whiskey blender Deirdre O'Carroll, Donegal-based Muff Liquor Co in which Russell Crowe is a proud investor and chefs Anna Haugh and JR Ryall of Ballymaloe, along with Una Healy, Ryan Tubridy, Laura Whitmore, winemaker Michael Flatley (founder of Flatley Whiskey) and Pat Shortt. Easily among the most colourful and captivating characters in the stellar cast, Tinahely farmer Joe Hayden and his herd of Holstein Friesian cows take centre stage in the first segment of the film, which premieres in the Tinahely Courthouse Arts Centre on August 1. Although he has worked with the likes of Ian McKellen and Judi Dench on Quintessentially British, and with Stephen Fry in Sparkling: The Story of Champagne, Frank said that the day spent filming on the unique Baileys Farm, where Joe's cows receive a full spa treatment, will live long in his memory. 'The film celebrates Ireland's contribution to the drinks and culinary world, and I wanted to find surprising stories for familiar products,' Frank began. 'It looks at whiskey, stout, artisan brands like Scraggy Bay and Muff Liquor, and also Bailey's Irish Cream. Ultimately, the film is an entertaining origin story for all those products. 'With Baileys, I thought, we know it's really popular. We know it's 50pc cream. We know it has sold two billion bottles around the world. But what don't we know? Where is it actually made? 'I discovered that the quintessential Baileys dairy farm is called the Baileys Farm in Tinahely, County Wicklow, and there's an amazing, dynamic farmer there called Joe Hayden who has won many awards for his Holstein Friesian cows. 'He has 230 cows that produce the cream for Baileys Irish Cream. He doesn't call them 'his herd' or 'his cows', but rather his 'Bailey's ladies', and he treats them as such. 'You often hear of racehorses being treated better than humans. And in a way, Joe has almost like a spa treatment set up for his cows because his philosophy is that a happy cow is more productive, which is a fact. A happy cow will produce better quality milk. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more 'He plays music to his cows. So, when they're in the milking parlour, the cows have to listen to his taste in music, which is The Killers, Bruce Springsteen, and Coldplay. He had a saxophonist there last week, and they seemed to like it. He thinks it makes them more productive, and he's probably right. 'When I went to the farm, I thought, this is amazing, Joe is a very forward-looking farmer with lots of interesting methods – I must be the first to have come here to put him and the Baileys Ladies on camera. But no, last month he had the Real Housewives of Orange County pay him a visit. So, the secret is out!' Delighted to have contributed to the production, Joe said that it was a privilege to collaborate with 'gentleman' Frank on a project that will place a global spotlight on Wicklow and its long-standing ties to products that have put Irish food and drinks on the map. 'This film is going to be huge for the Baileys Farm, and it's going to be a huge thing for Wicklow and Tinahely,' he said. 'To be featured in such a way, and to get the whole first segment of the film dedicated to us, it's fantastic for the county. 'Frank spent the day down here. He is a very interesting individual, and I really enjoyed working with him. An absolute professional, and a gentleman to boot. 'I wasn't sure how he was going to knit everything together, but the film is very cleverly done. The way Frank has woven the story of the Irish influences into everything from Hennessy to Californian white wine development – he's a very clever guy. I suppose, like in a lot of things, Ireland punches well above its weight. 'I've seen the film a few times, and every time I look at it, I enjoy it more. It's going to be very good for giving Wicklow exposure across the globe and for the business here, and I'm thoroughly looking forward to the premiere.' Just down the road from Joe's farm, Frank and his crew visited St Patrick's Well, which was supposedly visited by St Patrick in the fifth century, and is the most southerly point in Ireland he is known to have travelled to. As Frank explained, the reason he wanted to film there was to establish a connection with Prince Albert of Monaco, who has a paternal connection to the Guinness family on the Grimaldi side of the family. 'We came to shoot in Wicklow because there are two great locations right next to each other that tell very interesting stories that very little is known about,' he said. 'We spoke to Prince Albert in the film, as one of his ancestors married into the Guinness family, so he joked with us that he considers Guinness the family drink! 'Before coming to Ireland, St Patrick was educated at the Lérins Islands, which are just off the coast of Cannes, off the coast of Monaco. 'So in the film, we segue from Saint Patrick's Well in Wicklow to Monaco and Prince Albert talking about how two of his ancestors were the principal abbots of Lérins Monastery, where the monks make really nice red wine to this day. 'Another little-known story is the wine geese, these dynamic Irishmen from Galway, Tipperary and Kildare who left Ireland in predominantly the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for France and set up vineyards that are still world famous to this day, including Lynch-Bages, Phélan Ségur, and Léoville Barton. 'So, again, of course, we're known for Guinness, stout, and whiskey, but in the film, we say, well, we should be known for wine as well. 'And Hennessy Cognac, as Richard Hennessy was from Cork, and we tell that story of how he ended up in Cognac having fought for the French King Louis XV against the English at the Battle of Fontenoy.' A Sip of Irish will premiere at the Tinahely Courthouse Arts Centre on Friday, August 1, at 8pm. Tickets are €8/€6 and available to the public via An additional public screening will take place on the same day at Carlow County Library at 3pm. There will be a reception sponsored by Baileys at both screenings. The film will be released on digital platforms, including Amazon Prime and iTunes, on August 2.
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
FeliSpeaks: Life as a ‘black, Irish, queer culchie'
Over the past decade, Felicia Olusanya , who performs as FeliSpeaks, has written themselves into the contemporary Irish cultural canon. Growing up in Longford town, having moved to Ireland from Nigeria (via France) at the age of eight, there have been multiple landmarks along their creative journey to becoming a compelling and well-recognised performer on Dublin's spoken word scene. Yet early on, they imbued their poetry with its own specific cadence, intonations, a musicality that can move like waves, often becoming an enveloping experience for audiences. A moment that felt especially important was in 2017, at a fundraiser for the Repeal the 8th campaign in the Olympia Theatre. Olusanya's capacity to both quieten and command the room was potent. What emerged was a poem written at their desk in the credit union where they worked: READ MORE And who will march for us? For girls who are fattened, bred and fed for men whose appetites fill like basket water, Devoured by never enough. For girls who can point out pain in the alphabet but cannot spell out their own name. For girls, whose identities are buried under the smoke of a kitchen stove, High on the opportunity to serve, at least. They were nominated for Best Performer at Dublin Fringe Festival in 2018 for Boy Child, co-written with Dagogo Hart , and then won the award in 2022 , for their performance in thisispopbaby 's production, WAKE . Their poem, For Our Mothers, was included on the English Leaving Certificate curriculum in 2023. Olusanya has spent the past two years living in Brussels, returning to Dublin in early July. They arrive in Temple Bar on a sunny weekday morning, finishing up a deli pastry. In the Project Arts Centre , we sit at the back of the empty auditorium upstairs, the airy silence interrupted only by a lone technician clearing lights from the stage floor. At this year's Dublin Fringe Festival, this stage will be Olusanya's. Octopus Children, presented by thisispopbaby, is written by Olusanya, who also performs in the piece. Olusanya describes it as a 'choreopoem', using the term coined by the American playwright and poet Ntozake Shange, where multiple disciplines including poetry, music, and dance combine. 'Octopus Children,' Olusanya explains, 'is this idea that we're all connected by water. We all come from the water, the birth canal, we drink water to survive, we're 70 per cent water. I think water is integral to how we live, and one of the things we waste the most. That's the underbelly of the piece. The overbelly, if I can say that, is just trying to figure out where you fit as a person.' These are the tentacles. 'There are many layers people can see themselves in. But being black, and then being black-Irish, and then being black, Irish and queer in a religious setting, in a Nigerian setting, in Ireland, is very specific.' And beyond that, Olusanya deadpans, 'being a culchie'. The idea for Octopus Children arrived in 2021. Olusanya felt the poems landing as songs. 'I could hear a sonic world with them.' They began hanging out with some producers in a garage in Blackrock in Dublin – 'very sweet boys' – working on a concept for an EP. The first piece completed in 2022, Tough Meat, was a video poem directed by Bobby Zithelo . 'Putting that out into the world, I was hoping to leverage that in some capacity – somebody will see it! Somebody will think it's brilliant!' WAKE: Felicia Olusanya captivated audiences in thisispopbaby's hit show, journeying from Dublin Fringe Festival to London's West End and Manchester's Aviva Studio. Photograph: Ruth Medjber In the meantime, Olusanya captivated audiences in WAKE. That show was a hit, journeying from Dublin Fringe Festival to a standalone sold-out run at the National Stadium in Dublin, and then to London's West End, and Manchester's Aviva Studios. The show holds many things simultaneously: chaotically fun cabaret; aerial artistry; breathtaking pole-dancing; club anthems; dance; poetry; Irish traditional music – all combining to become a moving funeral rite and a great night out. In WAKE, Olusanya is a central character – part ringmaster, part preacher, part spirit, part healer, an anchor tethering the audience to the spiritual essence of the show. In rehearsals, Olusanya says that before developing the character, the thisispopbaby team 'really developed my talent and stretched it a bit'. Olusanya relishes a challenge. 'If you've ever grown up in a choir and a Nigerian auntie has been your choir master, girl, you take challenges real well! Nothing can faze you.' [ Thisispopbaby's magic sauce: 'Take Irish traditional culture, add some mirror balls, throw some glitter on it' Opens in new window ] Olusanya recalls telling Jennifer Jennings, WAKE's co-director and co-creator, that the character felt like an offering for the audience. Amid the neon and glitter, WAKE is also about expressing and diffusing grief. 'Grief is so traumatic, and if you're going to address it, you need to bring balm. I feel like that was what I was tasked with,' Olusanya says. At one performance in the West End, they recall 'coming off the stage and I wasn't even thinking about the words, I was being the words ... I vacuum cleaned the grief in the room. There's something so difficult about that, feeling the intensity of people's grief. Take it off their hands, and then offering balm. Oftentimes I'll get offstage and my body is wracked. Hyperventilating. I can't breathe.' An audience in the midst of releasing their emotion – joy or pain – doesn't often consider where that energy goes when those on stage are opening up those channels. 'Energy cannot be destroyed or created,' Olusanya says. 'It can only be passed from one to the next. So if you're releasing and you feel great, I'm determined to swallow it all up. I'll bring it before my chi and my god and release it that way.' They pause to consider that process and experience. 'I felt powerful enough to be able to do that. I've been thinking about power a lot. Once you're aware of your magnitude or power, for me, awareness of my power meant service. You can't be powerful and useless – come on! The more aware of my power I am, the more I submit to the service of other people via my art. That's what I'm here for.' 'For all the weight and darker elements of the work ... Feli also brings a real lightness, humour, and an irony,' says Octopus Children director Oonagh Murphy of Felicia Olusanya. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill After the second run of WAKE in Dublin, Olusanya says thisispopbaby asked, 'What do you want to create? What do you have in mind?' Olusanya answered: Octopus Children. 'I made them a little PowerPoint with all the ideas and thoughts, the sounds, the music I had already created. They were like, 'What in the hell? Here's a director. Go sort that out.' They were interested, they were curious. I really appreciated that they wanted to see my perspective on life.' That director is Oonagh Murphy. Murphy says Olusanya is 'a counter voice to what we're familiar with in the Irish cultural imagination. But also the craft of their work is incredible. When you think about how prolific their output is, there is a real discipline ... And there's a deep playfulness there too. For all the weight and darker elements of the work – which need to be given space – Feli also brings a real lightness, humour, and an irony.' [ Sabotage review: Joyously chaotic festival opener has all the fun of the circus Opens in new window ] Working on Octopus Children, Murphy says, 'has felt quite spiritual, magical'. Early on in our conversation, Olusanya refers to 'being the rebel in your family unit'. What does that rebellion look like? Their upbringing, community and family in Longford runs deep. As a youngster, Olusanya was 'a good girl, because I liked the things that I was supposed to like'. They loved school, 'which, if you know anything about immigrant families, this is the one thing '. They loved church, 'because I was very aware of my spiritual nature from when I was very young, and I didn't have any other outlet for it'. They loved going to choir, and being part of a youth group. 'The rebellion started when I hit 15 or 16. I started wrestling with my gender identity without knowing what it was. I didn't even know what those terms were until I hit maybe 21, 22 ... I wore the wrong clothing. I 'girled' differently to how I should have. So my mum was quite worried about that. I also wanted to explore kissing boys and girls, but it was like: that's not something you do. And I was very aware of that.' Around the age of 17, Olusanya recalls taking their younger brothers to the barber shop. 'I came home with a haircut too. My mother said, 'What is the matter?' She was so concerned because I cut my hair.' The rebellion 'ramped up' in college in Maynooth, where they were studying English and sociology, 'because I decided to leave Christianity'. Then, there was coming out as queer. 'I came out by accident. I didn't know I was coming out, I was just talking about being queer on Instagram.' I want black Irish girls, or non-binary people, or gays, to be like, 'Ahh! That's a bit of me!' — Felicia Olusanya on Octopus Children Olusanya had attended Dublin Pride, alone, 'so excited, just taking it in, like wow ... I came back from my first Pride parade, and I made a whole Instagram post – as you do when you're 23 and stupid. I was so excited, saying all my thoughts, and I forgot church people followed me. My mum followed me, obviously. She commented, 'Mum's got your back always.' It was really beautiful in that moment. However, some tricky conversations in the community in Longford followed. 'You know in the movies where they want to pray the gay away? They're really serious about that, you know… I was like: I like my gay. I'm not giving up my gay… That in itself was a rebellion.' On the hurt this induced, Olusanya says they 'would rather that pain, than the pain of hiding'. Tears pooling in Olusanya's eyes, they express empathy and understanding for the context. 'That in itself is complicated and confusing, and requires all the emotional intelligence in the world to navigate. But yeah,' they say, brushing the tears away, 'that's also in Octopus Children.' Olusanya flips the atmosphere into a moment of unexpected lightness, 'Do you know what? The Laya Healthcare ad helped!' Laughter fills the empty theatre. 'Do you know how cool it is when you're on billboards? They get over the gay stuff quick!' In late 2021, Olusanya appeared in a campaign for the health insurance company, bringing their image and words on to television screens and billboards across Ireland. I suggest that this feels like a quintessentially Irish experience, but perhaps one more associated with another time. Olusanya nods, connecting the social attitudes of older generation white Irish people to first generation Nigerian-Irish. 'I don't like saying this, but that's how far away we are in terms of where we should be. I'm not saying white Irish Ireland has it all figured out, but in terms of the queer thing? It just feels like the story is a 1980s Irish experience. It feels like a time-travelling experience. [ Taylor Tomlinson at 3Arena review: more personal, more vulnerable but few surprises Opens in new window ] 'When immigrant black people come here and they make black Irish children, they're not expecting the assimilation that we experience. My parents and their peers came purely out of survival – 'at least you're going to have a fighting chance'. When people come from a survival mentality and you're trying to operate from a thriving mentality, they're terrified. Because even though they do want you to thrive, they don't know what that looks like. And so there is this push and pull between: 'I want you to be better and that's why I brought you here,' versus, 'What better looks like is really confusing and alienating for me as the mother or father or family that brought you here.'' This can cause, Olusanya believes, a 'disconnect' between some black youth in Ireland, and their parents and older relatives. 'It's either thrive and evolve, or we just end up replicating our parents. So that 1980s connection is so interesting. There's half of us who are like, 'F**k it, I'm going to take this opportunity to thrive beyond the economic.' Because, no word of a lie, black Irish people my age? Disgustingly equipped and educated. They have masters degrees for no reason, bruv! What, to work in a Centra? Relax!' The Centra line is obviously a joke. 'They're taking over Google! What's going on?! Educated to s**t. Lawyers, medical doctors. We're not playing it small, because we're not allowed to. We're not allowed to play it small, because survival involves going all the way up here,' Olusanya raises their hand. 'But that's economic survival.' The social and spiritual aspect, they say, is another thing. Felicia Olusanya describes Octopus Children as a 'choreopoem', in which multiple artistic disciplines combine. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill I wonder whether the reaction Olusanya experienced to them being queer was also about a fear of another layer of oppression to contend with in a racist society. The conversations Olusanya had with family and others, they say, were 'not about hate, it's about fear. They were terrified, because they've built these communities and structures that incubate them safely. When you pop out of it for work, to socialise, you can still come back home. Even if I get racist experiences at work, there's a whole community that have my back I can come back to, so that is a temporary experience. That's how I think the older generation view it. Whereas if you're then gay, it's not the thing that's going to break you out 'there' in the white Irish world, but it will,' - or may - 'in the home that we've all built that's supposed to support you no matter what.' 'I want us to be able to have our communities, grow our communities, and not be caged by our communities, because that's also what's happening when people come from a space of survival, psychologically. I can't wait for a couple of generations where our people feel completely safe, that there isn't a demarcation. Sociologically and psychologically we all do this: you're drawn to people who are more like you, that's normal, so you'll always have those type of communities anyway. I'm not saying we need to dismantle our safety in our community in order to integrate. That's not what I'm asking for. But what I am saying, is to free ourselves from the limitations that the survival of our communities has brought. And one of those limitations,' Olusanya says, is a feeling 'that you can't be queer. Especially not out loud.' They have just returned from two years in Brussels, a place Olusanya went to out of a sense of adventure and 'safety, because it felt like the country held me well - I visited several parts of of Belgium before settling in Brussels - and I didn't want to go to London especially, very Dublin 2.0 vibes.' Living there, they were exposed to 'a type of freedom and blackness that I had never seen before or experienced', as well as new forms of dance and jazz. Now, Olusanya is ready for the next phase. They hope what Octopus Children does is make people 'one, feel visible in multiple ways, per tentacle. But two, that it frees us from the limitation of our own community – seeing a 'me'. I've come to accept – and no ego s**t – you just end up being a pioneer. You don't want to be a public figure, you don't want to be the person people look up to. But if you're going to do something different, you're going to end up being that ... With this show, I want to show my community – black Irish people – and the white Irish community, that this weird layered person-being can be visible, and it's completely okay. Visible and celebrated. I want black Irish girls, or non-binary people, or gays, to be like, 'Ahh! That's a bit of me!' and not feel like there's no representation. I hate the word representation, but it's so f***ing important. But I don't want to be the only one. I want to be able to make Octopus Children so octopus children can find it, so there can be a community of us, so we're very visible, very loud.'
