Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom has received almost 800 complaints about ITV2 reality show Love Island since Friday.
The regulator said the majority of the 794 complaints related to Maura Higgins’ attempts to win Tommy Fury’s affection during Friday night’s episode, which received 486 of the objections.
Higgins – accused by some fans on social media of “predatory” advances towards Fury – was seen trying to kiss him. The Irish model lent over him to try to lock lips with him, but he politely declined the offer.
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A second batch of complaints, 302 in total, are related to the treatment of surfer Lucie Donlan by the other contestants. Donlan, who is coupled up with Joe Garratt, has been perceived to be “distant” by some of the other islanders, leading to conflict in the villa.
Several Twitter users have objected to Joe’s treatment of his partner, with some accusing him of “emotional abuse” and “gaslighting”.
1/20 Lucie trying – and failing – to make ‘bev’ happen
Love Island is known for adding new slang to the British lexicon, but 21-year-old Lucie’s firm insistence that ‘bev’ means a hot man failed to catch on.
ITV
2/20 Amber’s anti-chemistry with Callum
Straight-talking Amber quickly made mincemeat of Callum, the first boy she coupled up with. After correcting him when he said he looked younger than his 28 years, she confirmed it was his wrinkles which were aging him. She would go on to diss his sunglasses before ditching him for Anton during the next coupling.
ITV
3/20 Tommy’s Hannah Montana obsession
Sensitive boxer Tommy has been vocal about his love for Miley Cyrus’ teen sitcom since day one. His fandom reached new heights when he serenaded Curtis with a rendition of her hit song ‘The Climb’ to illustrate his path to winning Lucie’s heart. Aww.
ITV
4/20 The Joe-Tommy-Lucie love triangle
Blonde surfer Lucie was an instant hit in the villa, with almost every boy trying a cheeky graft. She seemed torn between Tommy and Joe, who each went nuclear in their attempt to woo her. Tommy pledged that he would crawl to the moon and back for her after knowing her for around 24 hours. Despite this, Joe’s jealous moping eventually won out.
ITV
5/20 Anton’s unique seduction techniques
The confident Scotsman’s seduction skills manage to be both slippery smooth yet wildly erratic. His mile-a-minute chat has failed to land with any of the Love Island ladies, leading his to receive a cold shoulder from from Lucie, Anna and Mollie Mae.
ITV
6/20 The cowboy challenge
The raunchy challenge saw the boys strip down to chaps and speedos before hopping on a bucking bronco and getting covered in paint splatter. Performances ranged from smooth (Michael and Sherif) to deeply awkward (Callum and Joe).
ITV
7/20 Curtis friendzones Mollie Mae
Amy had a minor wobble when newcomer Mollie Mae picked her man Curtis to join her for a date in the hot tub. She shouldn’t have worried: Curtis firmly friendzoned Mollie Mae and settled in for a gossip about his fellow housemates instead.
ITV
8/20 Anton is disappointed
Anton seemed confident at the first recoupling that pharmacist Anna would choose him. His confident smile on hearing Anna compliment her mystery love’s body quickly turned into disappointment when he realised she had been talking about Sherif.
ITV
9/20 Calum leaves the villa
The aircraft engineer barely seemed to grace our screens before he was ejected after Mollie Mae chose to couple up with Tommy.
ITV
10/20 Tommy makes his first cup of tea
Tommy shocked the nation when he revealed he didn’t know how to make a cup of peppermint tea. With a lot of coaching from Sherif, the boxer managed to impress Mollie Mae without her realising the truth.
ITV
11/20 Tommy convinces himself he made an omelette
Encouraged by his success, Tommy tried to step up his culinary game by impressing Mollie Mae with a breakfast omelette (with Curtis doing the actual cooking.) Tommy even seemed to convince himself that he cooked the omelette, although he was rumbled after Sherif let slip who really made it.
ITV
12/20 Yewande’s quest for love
Gorgeous scientist Yewande had been unlucky in love in the villa – until she was picked for a date by newcomer Danny. The rest of the Islanders encouraged her fledgling romance, from putting in a good word with Danny to criticising Mollie Mae’s attempt to woo the new boy for herself.
ITV
13/20 Sherif’s mystery departure
Nine days into the series Love Island bosses confirmed that Sherif had been suddenly ejected from the show after “breaking the villa rules.” The 20-year-old confirmed his departure was due to his “poor judgement”, but it remains unknown which rule he broke.
ITV
14/20 Curtis and Amy become a half-couple
Amy may have never had a boyfriend before, but she was the first girl to make it official in the villa – sort of. During a date in the hideaway, Curtis asked her to become exclusive, which ended up with her getting the very high school label of ‘half-girlfriend.’
ITV
15/20 Amber opens up
Amber gained a reputation for withering looks and cutting putdowns, but one man was able to get past her icy exterior. Firefighter Michael proved he could take her self-proclaimed diva attitude, and was rewarded – on the second try – with a kiss.
ITV
16/20 Anton’s bad chat gets worse
With Sherif out the villa, Anton resumed his moves on Anna. This time, it went even worse than before, with the Scotsman inadvertently comparing her with Mollie Mae, calling Anna beautiful ‘on the inside’. He thought the chat went well; a dressing down from Amber and Michael soon put him in his place.
ITV
17/20 Tommy’s romantic meal
Tommy was tasked with making a starter for his date with new girl Maura. “I’ve never put so much effort into cheese in my life,” he said, as he carved out lovehearts from limp sliced cheddar. The result, two slices of ketchup and mayo-smeared white bread, proved that Maura’s continuing lust for the 20-year-old boxer is made of powerful stuff.
ITV
18/20 The girls freak out over Maura and Elma
Amber, Yewande and Mollie Mae watched their respective partners meet the new girls from the balcony. “Confident sh*ts,” fumed Amber, while Mollie made fun of their flirty laughter.
ITV
19/20 Michael confronts Amber
Michael brands Amber’s behaviour as “childish” after the beauty therapist heckled his date with Maura.
ITV
20/20 Tommy and Mollie Mae fight
Mollie Mae wasn’t happy when Tommy seemed interested in new girl Maura, and wasn’t afraid to let the boxer know how she felt.
ITV
1/20 Lucie trying – and failing – to make ‘bev’ happen
Love Island is known for adding new slang to the British lexicon, but 21-year-old Lucie’s firm insistence that ‘bev’ means a hot man failed to catch on.
ITV
2/20 Amber’s anti-chemistry with Callum
Straight-talking Amber quickly made mincemeat of Callum, the first boy she coupled up with. After correcting him when he said he looked younger than his 28 years, she confirmed it was his wrinkles which were aging him. She would go on to diss his sunglasses before ditching him for Anton during the next coupling.
ITV
3/20 Tommy’s Hannah Montana obsession
Sensitive boxer Tommy has been vocal about his love for Miley Cyrus’ teen sitcom since day one. His fandom reached new heights when he serenaded Curtis with a rendition of her hit song ‘The Climb’ to illustrate his path to winning Lucie’s heart. Aww.
ITV
4/20 The Joe-Tommy-Lucie love triangle
Blonde surfer Lucie was an instant hit in the villa, with almost every boy trying a cheeky graft. She seemed torn between Tommy and Joe, who each went nuclear in their attempt to woo her. Tommy pledged that he would crawl to the moon and back for her after knowing her for around 24 hours. Despite this, Joe’s jealous moping eventually won out.
ITV
5/20 Anton’s unique seduction techniques
The confident Scotsman’s seduction skills manage to be both slippery smooth yet wildly erratic. His mile-a-minute chat has failed to land with any of the Love Island ladies, leading his to receive a cold shoulder from from Lucie, Anna and Mollie Mae.
ITV
6/20 The cowboy challenge
The raunchy challenge saw the boys strip down to chaps and speedos before hopping on a bucking bronco and getting covered in paint splatter. Performances ranged from smooth (Michael and Sherif) to deeply awkward (Callum and Joe).
ITV
7/20 Curtis friendzones Mollie Mae
Amy had a minor wobble when newcomer Mollie Mae picked her man Curtis to join her for a date in the hot tub. She shouldn’t have worried: Curtis firmly friendzoned Mollie Mae and settled in for a gossip about his fellow housemates instead.
ITV
8/20 Anton is disappointed
Anton seemed confident at the first recoupling that pharmacist Anna would choose him. His confident smile on hearing Anna compliment her mystery love’s body quickly turned into disappointment when he realised she had been talking about Sherif.
ITV
9/20 Calum leaves the villa
The aircraft engineer barely seemed to grace our screens before he was ejected after Mollie Mae chose to couple up with Tommy.
ITV
10/20 Tommy makes his first cup of tea
Tommy shocked the nation when he revealed he didn’t know how to make a cup of peppermint tea. With a lot of coaching from Sherif, the boxer managed to impress Mollie Mae without her realising the truth.
ITV
11/20 Tommy convinces himself he made an omelette
Encouraged by his success, Tommy tried to step up his culinary game by impressing Mollie Mae with a breakfast omelette (with Curtis doing the actual cooking.) Tommy even seemed to convince himself that he cooked the omelette, although he was rumbled after Sherif let slip who really made it.
ITV
12/20 Yewande’s quest for love
Gorgeous scientist Yewande had been unlucky in love in the villa – until she was picked for a date by newcomer Danny. The rest of the Islanders encouraged her fledgling romance, from putting in a good word with Danny to criticising Mollie Mae’s attempt to woo the new boy for herself.
ITV
13/20 Sherif’s mystery departure
Nine days into the series Love Island bosses confirmed that Sherif had been suddenly ejected from the show after “breaking the villa rules.” The 20-year-old confirmed his departure was due to his “poor judgement”, but it remains unknown which rule he broke.
ITV
14/20 Curtis and Amy become a half-couple
Amy may have never had a boyfriend before, but she was the first girl to make it official in the villa – sort of. During a date in the hideaway, Curtis asked her to become exclusive, which ended up with her getting the very high school label of ‘half-girlfriend.’
ITV
15/20 Amber opens up
Amber gained a reputation for withering looks and cutting putdowns, but one man was able to get past her icy exterior. Firefighter Michael proved he could take her self-proclaimed diva attitude, and was rewarded – on the second try – with a kiss.
ITV
16/20 Anton’s bad chat gets worse
With Sherif out the villa, Anton resumed his moves on Anna. This time, it went even worse than before, with the Scotsman inadvertently comparing her with Mollie Mae, calling Anna beautiful ‘on the inside’. He thought the chat went well; a dressing down from Amber and Michael soon put him in his place.
ITV
17/20 Tommy’s romantic meal
Tommy was tasked with making a starter for his date with new girl Maura. “I’ve never put so much effort into cheese in my life,” he said, as he carved out lovehearts from limp sliced cheddar. The result, two slices of ketchup and mayo-smeared white bread, proved that Maura’s continuing lust for the 20-year-old boxer is made of powerful stuff.
ITV
18/20 The girls freak out over Maura and Elma
Amber, Yewande and Mollie Mae watched their respective partners meet the new girls from the balcony. “Confident sh*ts,” fumed Amber, while Mollie made fun of their flirty laughter.
ITV
19/20 Michael confronts Amber
Michael brands Amber’s behaviour as “childish” after the beauty therapist heckled his date with Maura.
ITV
20/20 Tommy and Mollie Mae fight
Mollie Mae wasn’t happy when Tommy seemed interested in new girl Maura, and wasn’t afraid to let the boxer know how she felt.
ITV
One fan tweeted urged the show’s producers to “get rid” of Higgins after her efforts to kiss Fury. “I’m sorry, but if a guy had done what Maura is doing in the villa he would be classed as a sexual predator!!!!! Not right! Get her out! How many times does a guy have to say no!”
An Ofcom spokeswoman said: “We will assess these complaints against our broadcasting rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate.”
Earlier today Love Island contestant Sherif Lanre revealed more details about his shock removal from the reality series days after accusing the show of “unconscious racism”.
Speaking to BBC host Victoria Derbyshire, he said: “I feel like the airtime which contestants of my race and races similar to mine was very disproportionate to our value in the villa.
“Statistically, [black people] do get less air time. Why that is is down to the people in charge.”
A Love Island spokesman said: “We would strongly refute any accusation of racism and we are unaware of any other Islanders using racist language.
“All of the Islanders are treated fairly and in accordance with our duty of care. We would like this to be made abundantly clear.”
Monday night’s episode of Love Island showed two new boys – Jordan Hames and Tom Walker – entering the villa and couples assessed on their compatibility.
