Is it ethical to watch Love Island?

Controversies surrounding reality TV show
unlikely to dent its impressive ratings

Reaction

But this hasn’t stopped 80,000 people applying to take part in
the fifth series of the show.

Host Caroline Flack told The Sun’s Fabulous magazine that the programme
has evolved and “the duty of care has become greater”, adding: “I
don’t think you can just turn around and cast blame… you don’t know
what’s going on in someone’s head, and if we did obviously we’d try
to help.”

Flack compared Love Island to football, saying: “It’s a
show that brings everyone together, like the World Cup, where you
can all talk about it. It’s a show about love.”

ITV has published a detailed statement on its duty of care
processes. Key changes for 2019 include better psychological
support, a proactive aftercare package including a minimum of eight
therapy sessions for every contestant and bespoke training on
social media and financial management.

Dr Paul Litchfield, who was made a CBE for services to workplace
well-being last year, independently reviewed the processes and
concluded that they “show a degree of diligence that demonstrates
the seriousness with which this is taken by the production
team”.

Body image problem

Another common criticism levelled against Love Island
is its lack of body diversity.

Today the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) published a survey that
found reality TV made nearly a quarter of people aged 18 to 24
worry about their body image. Of 4,505 people surveyed, 23% said
they had suicidal feelings because of such concerns.

Dr Antonis Kousoulis, of the MHF, said: “Millions of people
enjoy Love Island for a whole range of reasons.

“Our research clearly shows that a large number of young people
say reality TV has a negative impact on how they feel about their
own bodies.

“Concern about body image is linked to anxiety, depression and
feelings of shame and disgust.”

The Guardian notes that adverts for plastic
surgery during broadcasts of the show were banned last year and “it
is understood dieting products will also not be advertised during
the show this year”.

An ITV spokesperson insisted that this year’s islanders come
from a “diverse range of backgrounds with a mix of personalities”,
but Richard Cowles, creative director of ITV Studios Entertainment,
only fuelled the criticism, by saying in The Independent: “Yes we want to be as
representative as possible but we also we want them to be attracted
to one another.” 

Kick-starting careers

The Independent also points out that not all
reality TV experiences are negative. “These shows have kick-started
careers for thousands of contestants, propelling them into other
industries such as music and broadcasting,” one unnamed former
producer tells the newspaper.

Last year’s Love Island winner Dani Dyer has been
estimated to earn as much as £15,480 for an Instagram post, while
others have gone on to launch fashion lines, perform in West End
shows and even star in their own reality TV shows.

The question of whether we, as a nation, are wrong to watch
Love Island is emerging as “one of the great philosophical
questions of our age”, wrote Tim Jonze in The Guardian.

He left the answer to Olivia Buckland, one of the few former
contestants who went on to marry the islander they coupled up with
on the show. She told him: “The intensity of the situation creates
a real bond between people. People can see now that the
relationships from last year have lasted, and that the friendships
have lasted, too. You’re getting to see normal people fall in love,
and that’s something you just don’t see on TV very often.”