Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu: Dancing on Ice star prepares dad after he applied for Love Island middle-aged spin-off

Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu’s dad has applied for the middle-aged spin-off of Love Island following her win on the regular series in 2022.

The reality star, 28, from Islington, won ITV’s dating show with boyfriend Davide Sanclimenti and is now appearing on this year’s series of Dancing on Ice.

After winning the competition the couple received £50,000 and opted to stay together while showing off their strong relationship to fans on social media.

Now her dad Zekai Cülcüloğlu is searching for love and has signed up for the dating show’s spin-off series The Romance Retreat.

It was announced back in January that the popular ITV show would be making a comeback with a twist.

The show will see single parents search for love after being nominated by their adult children.

Applications for the show are still open with ITV saying: “ITV1 are looking for vibrant single parents from across the UK who are in search of love, for a brand new dating show!

“This is the ONLY dating show where single parents can search for love, by spending time in a luxury retreat, where all the parents have been nominated by their grown up children.”

Speaking on her Reddit podcast, Island Talk with Joe and Reddit, Ekin-Su revealed that her dad had “applied already” to be on the show.

She also revealed she has been “preparing” her dad for the reality show after experiencing the villa for herself last year.

Ekin-Su said: “I’m preparing him, he’s a single man, he needs to get out there, you know.”

She then made reference to her relationship with boyfriend Davide and began speculating that her dad “might find an Italian woman”.

The reality star was also asked about advice she could give her dad before joining the show, with Ekin-Su saying: “My advice was dad be yourself, don’t burp, put some perfume on.”

She’s not the only former Love Island contestant to put forward a parent for the show, with Tasha Ghouri pushing her dad to submit an application.

Tasha tweeted: “Dad this is your moment to shine… The entertainment joker king x”.

Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu is currently causing controversy on Dancing on Ice after her first performance landed the show with over 100 OFCOM complaints.

Her debut racy routine to Britney’s Toxic sparked public outrage with claims that her outfit was not appropriate ‘pre-watershed’.

Following the performance, Ekin-Su told The Sun: “You know what? If you have ’em flaunt them.

“I mean if you’ve got a nice bum and you look sexy in a unitard, why not. Who cares?”

Last Sunday, Ekin-Su skated in Dancing on Ice’s Musical’s Week as Maria Von Trapp from The Sound of Music.

Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu spoke to The Sun, where she said: “Whoever you see in the performance, whether I’m playing Britney Spears or Maria from The Sound of Music, I will be that person.

“With Britney, I was having fun with it, I couldn’t have performed it better in my opinion - I don’t regret it at all. I played her and now it’s over.

“This time I’ll be playing a character from The Sound of Music and I’ll be how she is supposed to be - it’s a character. People forget I’m an actress. If I was asked to play Henry VIII on ice then I’d do it.”

Dancing on Ice is live on ITV every Sunday night at 6:30pm.

Celebrities will face live elimination during the episode.

If you miss the live show it can be watched back on ITV’s streaming platform ITVX.