Six Love Island Stars Accuse Dating Show Of 'Treating Them Like Performing Monkeys'
10 July 2019, 11:23 | Updated: 10 July 2019, 11:48
Ex-Love Island stars have spoken out about the show's treatment of them both during and after the show and call for reality shows to change the way they operate.
A host of former Love Island stars have spoken out about the negative impact the show had on their lives and the way they were 'discarded' after being used as 'performing monkeys for ratings' whilst appearing on the show.
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Contestants including Adam Collard, Josh Denzel, Alex Miller, Jonny Mitchell, Malin Andersson and Paul Knopps have spoken to The Ringer about the negative impact the reality show had on contestants' mental health both during and after the show.
Adam Collard, claims he was told by producers he had 48 hours to 'steal someone's girl' when he entered the villa, or he was going to be axed- as they figured he could 'handle' the hatred on the outside.
He told the publication: "They interviewed me, they knew my personality, and then they put me in the villa and said, ‘You’ve got 48 hours [to steal someone’s girl], otherwise you’re gone."
"I cottoned on to the idea that if I didn’t go and hurt someone’s feelings, I was going to be out."
Malin was outspoken about her own experience, and that of the late Sophie Graddon and Mike Thalissitis's, saying: "We were like performing monkeys for them. I remember crying a bit."
"The biggest point is to look after the people that made the show. They just discarded us pretty quickly when we left the villa."
The 26-year continued on to reveal: "Mike was a gentle, humble guy....and Love Island portrayed him to be 'Muggy Mike.' But they are allowed to do that. They’re going to show the public what they bloody want."
She recounted what Sophie Graddon, who passed away in 2018, had said, to The Ringer: "I know Sophie reached out to Love Island quite a few times [and] she wasn’t getting anything back."
"She said, ‘The producers don’t give a shit about me.’ I believe that, at that time, they were fixated on ratings rather than looking after the people that made the show."
Josh Denzel said if he'd have left soon after he dumped Georgia Steel for Kaz Crossley he would have been in a 'very, very bad situation'.
Paul Knops added: "You go through anxiety. It can be pretty stressful. And then you go back to your own home, and there’s no one really to talk to about what you’ve been through. It all comes down to dealing with stuff on your own, and not everyone’s great at that."
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