Love Island : Bosses reveal NEVER option to take show off air

Love Island: Bosses reveal it was NEVER an option to take the show off air following the deaths of former contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon

Love Island has faced backlash in recent months with its critics arguing that the show should have been cancelled in the wake of Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis’ deaths. 

However the show’s bosses have now revealed that they never considered that Love Island wouldn’t return this year, as they admitted that their aftercare system is an ‘on going process’.  

When quizzed about whether they ever thought the show would be cancelled, ITV executive Angela Jain told MailOnline: ‘No. Our duty of care has always been really robust; as we’ve reflected in the statement it’s an on going process.

Not an option: The show’s bosses have now revealed that they never considered that the show wouldn’t return this year, as they admitted that their aftercare system is an ‘on going process’

‘We engaged with Dr Litchfield well before Christmas, it was just what we do in terms of being responsible programme makers. Those procedures will evolve as the show changes as well. It’s a continuous process.’ 

She argued that the show is in an entirely different place from where it was during the programme’s inception in 2015, therefore it is ‘entirely normal’ to keep evolving the aftercare procedures.

Making her position clear, Angela said: ‘Our duty of care is always first and foremost the islanders. We take it really seriously. We’re not a*******s. We really do care about these people. That’s not who we are.

‘We really care about the show and we really care about the islanders. For them to have a really good time and to find love – and there have been babies and there have been weddings – it’s super important for us.’ 

Backlash: Love Island has faced backlash in recent months with its critics arguing that the show should have been cancelled in the wake of Sophie Gradon’s death

Would it return? ITV bosses were quizzed about whether the show would return following the death of Mike Thalassitis

However, although the show’s director admitted the aftercare system has had to change, she insisted that this has in no way affected the editorial of Love Island, despite rumours that previous hits such as the lie detector challenge are being scrapped in a bid to make the show appear less emotionally demanding.

Although Angela hinted that for the first time the lie detector might not appear on the show, she said that the programme will always find ways to test the contestants relationships as they are trying to ‘mirror real life’.

She said: ‘The lie detector? It’s 57 episodes in the run. Lie detector is one episode and one element of 57 episodes. It’s not even a big deal in the format of the show.

Lie detector: Bosses hinted that for the first time the lie detector might not appear on the show

‘The islanders are fully aware their relationships will be tested. How we do that? You know what it’s like. We are often reacting to the narrative in the villa, so we try and be entirely flexible about that. 

‘But we will do that because that’s what the expectation is for the audience and definitely for the islanders.’

Love Island has previously come under fire with claims that the show is constructed, however Angela hit back and made it ‘crystal clear’ that the islanders only ever use their own words and are never told what to say by producers. 

Hit back: Love Island has previously come under fire with claims that the show is constructed, however Angela hit back and made it ‘crystal clear’ that the islanders only ever use their own words

She said: ‘It’s really important to remind everyone this show is a television programme. It is 100 per cent produced but just to be crystal clear, nothing that you are seeing has been done for the cameras, not at all.

‘When you make television programmes and you’re on a single camera shoot, you shoot the scene wide to start with and then go back in and ask them to repeat actions for cutaways, that is how telly works.

‘But in terms to the 71 cameras rigged in that villa, everything you see are their words and what they want to say. The only time they say our words is when they read out a text. 

‘So there’s no construction about this. We’re not trying to tell them what to say, we’re not trying to tell them what to do, it’s all their own words.’

Revealed: She said: ‘It’s really important to remind everyone this show is a television programme’

As the hit show has grown, so has the inevitability that people will want to appear on the it to further their own career and profile rather than the original aim – looking for love.

When questioned whether that was a worry for producers, Angela said: ‘Yeah that’s a concern. But if we’re doing our jobs properly, which hopefully we are, what we’re trying to do is trying to pick people who have a genuine motivation to be there.

‘Of course, as we all know, the Islanders from series four are having a very different experience from the islanders that left in series one. That brings with it other motivations so to speak, but our job is to go underneath that and find those people.’

The more recent series of the show has arguably thrown some wild cards into the villa, who the audience wouldn’t typically expect to see on the show, including bomb disposal expert Camilla Thurlow and Dr Alex George. 

The show’s creative director Richard Cowles said: ‘The difference with Camilla is she legitimised coming on a show like this for other people.

Wild card: The more recent series of the show has arguably thrown some wild cards into the villa, who the audience wouldn’t typically expect to see on the show, including Dr Alex George

Hit abck: The show’s creative director Richard Cowles said: ‘The difference with Camilla is she legitimised coming on a show like this for other people’

‘So I think she’s opened the door and people think “well, its not a bad thing to go on Love Island. I’m looking for love. I’m single and it doesn’t matter what I do for a living.” 

As well as casting contestants with professional careers, the show also has a tendency to send in people who viewers might recognise from the outside world, previously Dani Dyer and this year Curtis Pritchard and Tommy Fury. 

However Angela suggested that it wasn’t her level of fame that got her the gig, it was her character, she said: ‘We always knew she was a great character for television. It wasn’t her being Dani Dyer, it was more her character and what she’s like.

Famous: As well as casting contestants with professional careers, the show also has a tendency to send in people who viewers might recognise from the outside world, previously Dani Dyer

Famous face: Bosses suggested that it wasn’t her level of fame that got her the gig, it was her character, she said: ‘We always knew she was a great character for television’

‘People fell in love with her so it’s not a conscious decision to do one or the other. It becomes easier and harder as more people want to be on the show than ever before but equally we’re always trying to surprise the audience and keep one step ahead.

‘You just try to get a balance on the time between those who really want to be on the show, those who will be someone different for the show. 

‘Our show has to evolve with the audience as well and their expectation, and that changes as the show gets bigger and bigger.’

Critics of the show have previously claimed that the show isn’t diverse or representative enough, arguing that a select body type is chosen above others.

Lovable lad: Curtis Pritchard may be recognisable to viewers for AJ Pritchard’s brother

Speaking on the topic, Richard said: ‘I think we try to be as representative and diverse as possible. It has to come back first and foremost – it’s an entertainment show and it’s about people wanting to watch people we’ve got on screen and then reacting and falling in love with one another.

‘Where else can you watch people who arrive as strangers and fall in love over eight weeks? That’s an amazing thing to watch in real time. Yes we want to be as representative as possible but we also we want them to be attracted to one another.’

‘Also we’re not saying that everyone that’s in there is how you’re supposed to look. We’re saying here’s a group of people that we want to watch for eight weeks, and we want to watch them fall in love. That’s not at the front of our mind, but we do want to be as diverse as possible.’

Iconic show: He said: ‘Where else can you watch people who arrive as strangers and fall in love over eight weeks?’

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