LOVE Island 2021 has become the most complained about series of all time.
Today it was revealed that the ITV2 dating show was hit with the most Ofcom complaints in its six-year history following the controversial Casa Amor postcard last week.
Viewers were left outraged after a misleading photo suggested to Faye that her partner Teddy had been unfaithful in the second villa.
Producers included an image of the hunk snogging one of the Casa Amor girls during a game of dares.
Away from the games and challenges, Teddy had remained completely loyal – avoiding all of the girls’ advances and sleeping outside every night.
The episode which saw the Islanders receive the postcard aired on 28 July, and triggered a staggering 4,330 official complaints to the TV watchdog.
Love Island received a further 738 Ofcom complaints for episodes that aired later in the week with regard to the “postcard issue”.
Racial slur
In the four weeks prior to that the broadcasting regulator was inundated with grievances from angry viewers over a whole range of topics.
Many were over bombshell Danny Bibby, who dragged the ITV2 show into a race row when he was introduced on July 15.
Danny was soon kicked out after being voted the least popular Islander along with AJ Bunker – after viewers spotted he’d used a racial slur on Instagram.
ITV allowed Danny to apologise from inside the villa but his appearance on the popular show sparked thousands of complaints to the telly watchdog.
Rejected Hugo
Other complaints came when Hugo Hammond was rejected by all of the girls during a game of Line of Booty.
The Love Island game saw the girls dress up as police officers to free a man of their choice from ‘jail’ to seduce with a sexy dance and share a passionate kiss – but Hugo was left standing alone.
The upsetting scenes led to 267 viewers moaning about the treatment of the PE teacher during the challenge.
Days earlier 182 fans “objected to the treatment of Hugo” elsewhere in the show.
The most complaints any one Love Island moment has received before this is 2,644 in 2018 – when Dani Dyer received similarly misleading information about Jack Fincham when he was at Casa Amor.
Risk of being taken off air
Last month Ofcom said telly channels face being taken off air if Love Island and similar shows fail to look after contestants.
Stars of previous series — who found themselves in the limelight — later took their own lives, raising questions over how much help they received in dealing with their sudden fame.
Adam Baxter, director of broadcasting standards for the telly watchdog, told the Radio Times: “We have the power in the most serious of cases to fine broadcasters or take away their licence to broadcast.”
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He said TV bosses now have a duty of care to those “who might be at risk of significant harm”, primarily vulnerable people and those not used to being in the public eye.
Mr Baxter explained: “We are talking about shows like Love Island that attract a high level of media or social media interest, involve conflict, emotionally challenging situations, or require a person to disclose life-changing or private aspects of their lives.
“We’ve also made clear that, before a person agrees to take part in a TV or radio show, broadcasters must tell them about any possible risks to their welfare, and how they will seek to minimise these.”
