Former paralegal in new Love Island-style dating show

Robyn Darbyshire stars in ITV2’s The Cabins which premiered this week

Ever since the winter edition of popular dating show Love Island concluded and it was announced that the regular summer version would be postponed due to the ongoing pandemic, Legal Cheek has been on the lookout for a new legally-minded reality star to grace our screens.

Well, ITV2’s The Cabins premiered this week. It’s a dating show that has been dubbed ‘lockdown Love Island‘, and stars a former paralegal, Robyn Darbyshire.

The 26-year-old is from Doncaster in South Yorkshire and worked as a paralegal at a local solicitors’ firm, OCL Solicitors, specialising in personal injury claims for two years, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Darbyshire’s dalliance with the law appears to be short-lived: her bio indicates she currently works as a sales executive and recently trained as a TV presenter. She also models for an insurance company at motorsport events.

The footie fanatic, who previously appeared on ITV2’s reality dating show Singletown, said in an interview ahead of the programme that she’s been single for four years but is now ready to find someone. “I’d love a guy who is romantic but was also funny and didn’t take himself too seriously and is up for a laugh. I just haven’t found anyone worth settling down for.”

The Cabins stars three pairs of singletons who each check in to a remote log cabin for their first date — and have to spend the next 24 hours together. The pairs then decide if they want to stay together or ‘check out’. The show is pre-recorded and was able to go ahead after ITV ensured strict health and safety checks were put in place. It premiered on Monday and airs every night on ITV2 at 9pm.

Darbyshire isn’t the first love-seeking reality star with a background in law.

Limerick University law graduate Greg O’Shea won the last summer series of Love Island. That same series saw Leeds Beckett law grad Lavena Back enter the villa for a short stint. And who can forget Rosie Williams, the junior solicitor who put her legal career on hold to enter the Spanish villa in 2018. Since then Williams has gone on to launch a lawyer-inspired clothing line, and (humble brag) presented our ‘Best Use of Social Media’ award at our annual ceremony.