Love Island Rant

Once again the ITV2 reality show has taken over, dominating all talk shows, radio shows, newspapers and magazines. It’s the show everyone is talking about and it has given us some of the most iconic reality TV moments to date. Love Island has propelled it’s contestants into fame but it has also doomed them into a life in the spotlight.

So, was it really worth it?

As the connection between reality TV and mental health comes under scrutiny, is a career forged through reality TV really worth the sacrifice? Constant media attention, online abuse, people always judging and people having a constant need to know everything about your personal life. That doesn’t sound very appealing to me.

Love Island has previously been linked to the tragic deaths of former contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis. I’m not saying Love Island is to blame in any way, their deaths were heartbreaking and my thoughts are with all their friends and families. But would they still be alive today if they hadn’t entered the villa? Who knows.

I am just as obsessed with Love Island as most people, I watch it every night without fail and I live for all the gossip and drama that takes place. But, I cannot help but feel sad that some of the contestants that enter, intelligent and respected people, will be wasted. Trading in good, well- paying and respectable jobs for a career in promoting the likes of Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing.

There’s nothing wrong with having a career in promoting Boohoo and Pretty Little Thing, a job is a job and it clearly pays well but why? Why trade in a successful career you have worked so hard to build for that?

Love Island had previously been criticised for featuring ‘dumb’ contestants and was plagued with the stigma that all of it’s contestants were stupid and fame hungry.

Last years series of Love Island featured intelligent contestants such as A&E doctor Alex George, government advisor Zara McDermott, sports journalist Josh Denzel, lawyer Rosie Williams and nuclear systems design engineer Wes Nelson. Whilst some people such as George and Denzel return to their jobs using their platform in a positive way, other contestants enter a world of clothing lines, promotions and appearances on other reality shows. These are intelligent people who made a difference in this society and whose talents are being wasted.

Previous series saw a former Miss Great Britain winner lose her crown, multiple stars being shamed for having sex on TV, Ofcom complaints of bullying and much more. So was going on Love Island worth it?

The current series has already been showered with scandals including complaints of controlling behaviour and bullying. These scandals wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t appeared on the show. For the people involved, these scandals will stay with them for life.

Current contestants have their past dug up, their faces put on the front pages of tabloid newspapers. Scandals including things like offensive tweets, old photographs of them (with suggestions of surgery to change their appearance) and exes selling stories of them. They remain completely unaware of this whilst in the villa, they’ll have to deal with it when they leave.

There is also the issue of the fact that very few Love Island couples stay together. Couples such as Olivia Buckland and Alex Bowen and Camilla Thurlow and Jamie Hewitt continue to fly the Love Island flag and defy the odds and continue to be strong and happy couples. But they are in a minority. Many of the couples in Love Island split within months of leaving the villa following rows, cheating scandals and the struggle of adjusting to life outside the villa.

I can appreciate that the change from being together constantly for weeks with no contact with the outside world to then adjusting back to reality can be difficult. But it doesn’t exactly paint Love Island as a show where people successfully find love.

Love Island has gradually become more and more popular with some of it’s former contestants now becoming household names and familiar faces on our screens. I can’t help but wonder, are any of the people applying actually looking for love anymore?

I will always be a fan of Love Island and I will continue to watch it in the future, but are the contestants really in it for love or for money?