Ofcom to take no action over Love Island misogyny complaints

31.08.2022 - 01:21 / ok.co.uk

Ofcom will not further pursue complaints about the eighth series of Love Island saying “negative behaviour in the villa was not shown in a positive light”.The broadcast watchdog revealed they received 7,482 complaints about the popular ITV dating show across its eight weeks, with complaints related to “alleged misogynistic and bullying behaviour” by some of the male contestants. Other complaints made were centred around “alleged misogyny, emotional abuse and coercive control” by the male contestants.

Among the more than 7,000 complaints received, the highest volume was 2,626 for an episode which aired on July 17, of which 2,600 related to perceived misogynistic behaviour. During the episode, the contestants had a movie night where they were shown video clips of antics which had occurred when the couples had been tempted by newcomers to the villa.The episode got particularly heated when Luca Bish expressed his frustration after claiming one of the clips showed his partner Gemma Owen flirting with new boy Billy Brown.

Another episode which was aired on July 19 saw the islanders take part in a Snog, Marry, Pie challenge where they revealed who they would kiss, marry or hit in the face with a cream pie. During the episode, dancer and model Tasha Ghouri was left in tears over comments Dami Hope and Bish made before delivering a pie to her face.

Ofcom said they received 1,497 complaints in relation to this episode about “alleged bullying among the contestants, and raised ongoing concerns about behaviour from the male contestants that they considered being misogynistic”. An Ofcom spokesperson said: “We carefully assessed complaints about this series on a range of issues including alleged misogynistic and bullying behaviour.