Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon will not feature in the upcoming Best of Love Island series which starts next week.
ITV bosses made the difficult decision to leave out the two stars who both took their own lives since their appearances on the show.
The move is likely to divide fans who believe the pair deserve their own highlights and were key personalities in the villa.
Tough decision: ITV bosses have decided not to include clips of Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon in its Best Of show airing next week
With no Love Island taking place this summer, ITV decided to air a ‘best of’ series featuring the biggest moments from its six series.
But bosses decided not to include any clips of Mike or Sophie in the series, according to The Daily Star.
A source from the show said: ‘The specials feature some of the most romantic, hilarious and memorable moments from the show.
Tragic: The two reality stars took their lives since their appearances on the controversial ITV show
‘Out of respect for Mike and Sophie’s families, they don’t appear in these programmes.’
It was recently recvealed that ITV have axed the winter series of Love Island, with the show returning to screens in summer 2021.
‘Love Island UK will return bigger and better than ever with an extended run in summer 2021,’ ITV announced in a statement to MailOnline.
It will be back…eventually! ITV have axed the Winter series of Love Island, with the show returning to screens in Summer 2021
The axing of both the summer 2020 series and a winter series in early 2021 is in large part down to the coronavirus pandemic, with restrictions on travel and filming causing huge issues for the show.
Pre-production on the winter 2021 series was scheduled to take place at the moment, but with so many quarantine and social distancing measures still in place, it’s thought it wouldn’t be possible to fly cast and crew to location and work safely.
Instead producers are keen to focus on one bumper season of the show next summer, which will likely return to Mallorca, after the winter 2020 series took place in South Africa.
The first ever winter series of the show gave ITV2 its best ever January and February ratings with an average 3.1m viewers.
On hold: The Summer 2020 series was cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and on Monday bosses at the channel announced that the next series of the ITV2 dating show won’t be for another year
It was announced last month that there will be no Love Island this summer, but the channel is instead repeating the first series (2018) of Love Island Australia from Monday 15 June at 9pm.
ITV bosses pulled the plug on the summer series after casting had already begun, revealing it was a logistical impossibility to safeguard ‘the wellbeing of everyone involved’.
Kevin Lygo, Director of Television at ITV, said: ‘We have tried every which way to make Love Island this summer but logistically it’s just not possible to produce it in a way that safeguards the wellbeing of everyone involved and that for us is the priority.
Memories: Love Island last aired on screens at the beginning of this year when ITV2 commissioned the show’s first ever winter series, filmed in South Africa
‘In normal circumstances we would be preparing very soon to travel out to the location in Mallorca to get the villa ready but clearly that’s now out of the question.
‘We are very sorry for fans of the show but making it safely is our prime concern and Love Island will be back stronger than ever in 2021. In the meantime Love Island fans can still enjoy all six series of Love Island on BritBox.’
Host Laura Whitmore weighed in on the cancellation, saying it was the right decision.
She tweeted: ‘Like with a lot of things because of restrictions with travel, social distancing and unable to plan ahead, Love Island is postponed until 2021.
‘Great news is that there have been more applications then any other series! Next year is going to be BIG. Stay safe.’
If you have been affected by this story, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org.
Fan favourite: ‘Love Island UK will return bigger and better than ever with an extended run in summer 2021,’ ITV announced in a statement to MailOnline