Fans slam Love Island for casting the same body shapes ‘year after year’

Love Island has been accused of casting the same body shapes ‘year after year’, with many fans of the show questioning the absence of ‘plus size’ contestants.

While some have hailed the 11 unveiled contestants for this series ‘the most diverse’ lineup to date, others were ‘disheartened’ at the lack of inclusivity in terms of body shape.

One aggrieved viewer tweeted: ‘So when will there be plus size people? Or can only perfect bodies appear on the show?’

A second Twitter user expressed how it would be ‘nice to see people who look like you on telly: ‘I’m not being funny but can we have some gals who are maybe a size 16/18/20 on love island and some guys who aren’t massive spice boys pls,’ she added.

‘Love Island isn’t about finding love anymore. It’s about getting the airtime, more followers and a brand deal. Where are the mid sized / plus size members of the villa?’ a frustrated fan wrote.

‘They should really put some fat people on Love Island. Get some body positivity and diversity please,’ another demanded.

The first 11 Islanders heading to the Love Island villa were unveiled on Monday.

And despite the backlash over body positivity, the new cast have mostly won praise, as the inclusion of the show’s first ever deaf contestant alongside Islanders from ethnic minorities are hailed by fans as representing ‘the most diverse’ lineup seen on the ITV2 dating show.

As the first crop of contestants were revealed on Love Island’s social media accounts on Monday, fans also applauded the use of unfiltered and unedited photos of the new lineup.

A year ago the Love Island line-up came under fire from ‘disappointed’ fans as they complained about the lack of different ethnic backgrounds, body types and members of the LGBT community represented on the show.

This year there was praise from some fans who declared ‘I see they paid some attention.’

‘3 black contestants in the opening line up – Love Island are hearing us now please treat them right and give them a good year,’ tweeted another on Monday.

‘The Love Island cast looks very diverse this year the producers clearly don’t want issues,’ reasoned another, while another agreed, tweeting: ‘Love Island made sure they ain’t getting no repeat of last year, getting over 25K complaints & making it more inclusive and diverse THIS TIME around.’

Others though pointed out that alongside a more diverse lineup, casting needed to ensure that they picked Islanders with ‘diverse dating histories.’

‘Love island uk needs to pick at least SOME men who have diverse dating histories so our black queens dont get mugged off on INTERNATIONAL tv every day,’ explained one fan.

Other praise was reserved for the official photos of the new contestants, which appear to be largely unedited.

‘Can we talk about how these photos are unedited, I’m so glad they’ve kept in the skin texture, body hair etc, beautiful girl and this needs to be normalised,’ tweeted one fan.

‘I think they look authentic, Not edited,’ was another response in reply to a fan who mused that the photographer had ‘done the contestants dirty’ with the promo pics.

Others insisted the photographs didn’t capture ‘the best angles’ of the stars, with one pointing out: ‘These Love Island promo pics ain’t it. I went on each contestant’s Instagram and saw completely different people’

‘Tbh the love island photographer has been doing them dirty for YEARS. They always look so much better than those promo pics lmfao,’ another added.

This year’s Love Island contestants will be given inclusivity training, round the clock access to mental health experts and bespoke guidance on how to cope with instant fame as part of an extensive care package implemented ahead of its latest series.

Ahead of this series, contestants will be offered video training and guidance covering appropriate inclusive language around disability, sexuality, race and ethnicity, as well as general behaviours and microaggressions.

The inclusion training, which Islanders are offered prior to entering the Villa, consists of conversations chaired by BCOMS (Black Collective of Media in Sport) founder Leon Mann MBE.

It also included DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) consultant Hayley Bennett, disability specialist Shani Dhanda and broadcaster Sean Fletcher.

The discussions have been devised to tackle topics including inclusive language, behaviour, creating safe spaces and being a good ally.

While ITV2 have worked hard on their inclusivity for the 2022 series, former Islander Sharon Gaffka has insisted in a new interview that the show has not done enough to represent body diversity.

Speaking on TalkTV’s The News Desk, Sharon, who appeared on season seven of the show, said: ‘We stereotypically see men with six packs, women being very, very petite. There are still midsize and plus size people out there who are looking for love and would make great contestants on the show so I feel like they’re still being overlooked.’

Speaking to The News Desk’s Tom Newton Dunn, Sharon also criticised the show’s absence of Asian contestants, saying:

‘Diversity comes in lots of different boxes. It’s not just ethnicity and what I do think it’s great that you know, close to 50% of the cast will be diverse or from a different background I still think we’re not seeing any Asians in the original line-up.’

‘And again, there is a little bit of more diversity than other previous series in terms of body size. But again, I’d still think that the producers could have done a little bit more in terms of body diversity. ‘

Sharon, who was a civil servant before entering the Love Island villa last year, also commended this year’s show having contestants from different career paths and not just social media influencers saying:

‘I feel like I went into the wrong series a little bit. You know, it’s no secret that my love life gets impacted by my career. So, I think one of the criticisms that people have watched the show, they say that everybody is a wannabe influencer or is an influencer. I think it’s great to have a lot of different people from a lot of different backgrounds.’

The News Desk, TalkTV, 7pm Monday – Friday (Sky 526, Virgin Media 627, Freeview 237, and Freesat 217) and live and on demand on the TalkTV app and at Talk.TV 

Love Island starts at 9pm Monday 6th June on ITV2 and ITV Hub. Episodes are available the following morning on BritBox