Sam Thompson and Indiyah Polack jet to South Africa for Love Island final

The Love Island final will take place on Monday night in sunny South Africa.

And Aftersun hosts Sam Thompson and Indiyah Polack were jetting out to the tropical location on Thursday ahead of the big episode.

The radio presenter, 30, shared a clip as he sipped on some fizz in the airport lounge ahead of boarding the plane with the influencer, 24.

Looking buzzing he penned: ‘This is amazing!! We’re off to South Africa baby!!! Living my dream!’

Posing with Indiyah he then joked: ‘I don’t sleep on flights… she’s in for a tough ride!’.

The pair were joined by Love Island alum and best pals Millie Court and Chloe Burrows who also shared their excitement for the trip. 

After eight weeks of dramatic recouplings, explosive rows and brutal dumpings, Winter Love Island is finally set to draw to a close on 13 March.

From the turmoil of Casa Amor wreaking havoc on relationships to Aussie Love Island legends Jessie Wynter and Aaron Waters making a return to the show – there was plenty of action to get stuck into. 

But after another pair of islanders said their goodbyes this week, the end is in sight for our final ten islanders.

The grand final will take place on Monday 13 March, airing live from South Africa on ITV2 and ITVX at 9pm.

Extended from the show’s usual hour-long run, the episode will finish up at 10:35pm. 

Four couples usually appear in the final, with last year’s line-up being Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Davide Sanclimenti, Gemma Owen and Luca Bish, Indiyah Polack and Dami Hope, and Tasha Ghouri and Andrew Le Page.

Hosted by Maya Jama for the first time ever, the presenter will be hitting screens live from the villa in Cape Town, with the islanders also live for the first time since entering the show.

Alongside the finalists and Maya, an audience will gather to watch the winning moment in real-life, as the final few days are recapped in pre-recorded segments.

Based on the public vote, one lucky couple will be crowned the winners of Winter Love Island and awarded a cushty £50K to share.

While the show previously included a ‘share or steal’ segment to the final, this is likely not to feature this year.

Most winners of the show have been handed an envelope each, one with £0 and one with £50K written on it – with the contestant holding the latter being given the decision to keep it all for themselves, or split it with their partner.

But during the 2022 summer edition of the show, winners Ekin-Su and Davide weren’t given this option, with the money automatically being split.

While it hasn’t been confirmed that the segment is scrapped, it is likely that ITV have decided that it is no longer relevant – as every winner before has split the cash.

In addition to the money, islanders are often bombarded with press opportunities, brand partnerships and TV deals upon leaving the villa.

Meaning that even if they don’t win the show, most islanders could be headed for a more than satisfactory payday outside of the villa.

Five couples still remain in the villa, with one expected to just miss out on their chance at winning the show.

The remaining couples are Kai Fagan and Sanam Harrinanan, Tom Clare and Samie Elishi, Ron Hall and Lana Jenkins, Will Young and Jessie Wynter, and Shaq Muhammad and Tanya Manhenga.

During the summer series in 2022, Adam Collard and Paige Thorne were voted out of the show just a day before the live final.

With this series expected to follow suit, it will be the end of the road for one out of the five couples this weekend.

During Tuesday evening’s episode, a public vote booted Casey O’Gorman and Rosie Seabrook out of the villa as they were one of the three couples with the least amount of votes.

Shaq and Tanya also found themselves in that bottom three section alongside Will and Jessie – suggesting that these two couples could be more vulnerable than others ahead of the final.