Love Island has become something of a quintessentially British summer staple. We like Pimms, we like beer gardens, and we like watching a group of singletons crack on in a Spanish villa. I don’t know if, this year, ITV producers have pulled it out of the bag, or my expectations are simply at an all-time low, but it has been a strong start to villa life.
A vast improvement in the show’s quality could be because ITV has finally stepped up and made some much-needed changes to the show’s duty of care. After three deaths linked to the show, as well as former islanders’ tales of mental health struggles and social media abuse - the network has stepped in to introduce training on language around disability, sexuality, race and ethnicity, and microaggressions.
The network has dealt with the thousands of complaints over coercive behaviour from the boys in the villa during the 2022 series, and have now introduced training and guidance on respectful behaviour, controlling and coercive behaviour.
As such, we appear to have been introduced to the cutest, most respectful group of guys the show has potentially ever seen and who have, thus far, been respectful of the fun-loving, confident group of girlies (and vice versa).
© ITVThe islanders' social media accounts are inactive during the show’s filming so that their family and friends don’t have to deal with abuse and death threats from all of the trolls who need to realise that it’s really not that deep.
© itvSo, with our new rules firmly in place, where are we with the islanders in the villa for 72 hours? Catherine is loving life with two guys on her tail, while Molly and Mitchel became an instant married couple (much to Mitchel’s delight and Molly’s disconcertment), and we were introduced to early bombshell favourite, Whitney. We also have a lovely new 'I'm not claimed' quote to get on a Primark T-shirt!
© ITVThis crop of contestants actually has quite good - dare I say it - banter?! Twitter fans appear to agree, with one writing: "I love this cast. Thank you for finally recruiting REAL people." Another person added: "Something’s wrong because why is this the first OG cast where I actually like everyone." A third person added: "The amount of sexual tension between the cast is insane, I’m shook that this is just the beginning. This season just wow."
© ITVA major thing holding this show together now is Twitter and the sense of community we have for it. Watching it without the social media platform would be like Ant without Dec, Tom without Jerry, Ekin without Su. After missing an episode and watching it on catch-up, it felt that much more tired without popping onto the social media platform during the adverts for the comedy takes.
© ITVIs the show starting to feel tired? Maybe. There’s only so much you can entertain when you have heard countless TikTok interviews with former islanders explaining villa "secrets", like how cringe-worthy the challenges are, or how the dance montages are excruciatingly awkward and done in silence, or how they are all filming to crazy early hours of the morning and have no concept of time. But like turkey at Christmas, or getting an MOT, Love Island is a yearly British tradition that must be observed, whether we like it or not.
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