WIREDGOV

Now that the sun has set on the eighth series of ITV2’s Love Island, we have completed our assessment of all the complaints we received about the show this year.

In total, we received 7,482 complaints across the whole series. That compares with 36,324 in 2021 – when 24,763 people complained to us about Faye’s argument with Teddy – and 1,700 about the winter series in 2020. It’s important to remember that a high number of complaints about a show does not automatically trigger an investigation, nor does it mean a broadcaster has necessarily broken our rules.

Complaints about the 2022 series of Love Island covered a range of issues, including alleged misogynistic and bullying behaviour by some of the islanders. We carefully assessed each of these against our broadcasting rules and can now confirm we will not be pursuing these complaints further.

We recognise that emotionally charged or confrontational scenes, as seen in the villa, can upset some viewers. But in our view, the show did not portray examples of negative behaviour by participants in a positive light. Viewers also saw other islanders condemning the behaviour and offering advice and support to those affected. Scenes where apologies were made were also shown.

We also took into account that now in its eighth series, the format for Love Island is well-established. So viewers tuning in to the show would expect to see the islanders’ highs and lows on screen, as couples’ relationships are tested during the course of the series.

You can read more about our latest broadcasting decisions in our fortnightly Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin.