Love Island receives 1,500 Ofcom complaints about ‘misogynistic behaviour’ during Snog Marry Pie

Love Island has been hit with more than 1,500 Ofcom complaints after the Snog, Marry, Pie challenge last week.

The UK’s media regulator, Ofcom, confirmed to MailOnline the regulator received 1,509 complaints on July 19 – and the majority were about alleged misogynistic behaviour from the male islanders towards the female cast, including in the aftermath of the challenge.

These complaints have been registered, but it is not clear yet whether or not Ofcom will investigate. 

The week before, Love Island was hit by 3,617 complaints from viewers, following the Movie Night episode which saw Luca Bish, 24, lose his temper at Gemma Owen, 19, for supposedly flirting with Billy Brown, 23.

Moreover, 427 viewers complained about the July 17 episode of Aftersun which saw host Laura Whitmore and panellists speculate on what happened between Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, 27, and George Tasker, 23, in the bedroom.

Women’s Aid have already stated that they are in talks with the show over some of the behaviour displayed by the males.

A statement from the charity last week insisted that ‘specific information on abusive relationships and an understanding of controlling behaviour in relationships’ is missing from the channel’s ‘inclusive training’ ahead of the series.

Women’s charity Refuge issued a separate statement highlighting the ‘gaslighting and coercive control’ shown by some of the boys.

CHALLENGE – SNOG, MARRY, PIE 

Complaints: 1509 for misogyny and bullying 

Islanders were challenged to select someone to snog and ‘marry’, by placing a ring on someone’s finger and ditch, by throwing a custard pie in that person’s face in a challenge last week. 

The challenge appears on the show each year and while it’s meant to be playful in tone, Islanders have to give a reason as to why they select someone for each action. 

It seems viewers were upset about how dancer and model Tasha Ghouri, 23, was treated – with some calling the boys’ behaviour ‘bullying’. 

Tasha, who is coupled up with real estate agent Andrew Le Page, 27, had three pies thrown in her face, by entrepeneur Davide Sanclimenti, 26, microbiologist Dami Hope, 26, and fishmonger Luca Bish, 23, after they had accused her of not really wanting to be with Andrew as much as he did her.

Tasha was the left in tears after the boys pushed cream pies into her face during the supposedly light hearted game, with fellow Islanders later agreeing things went ‘too far’. 

Davide, who is coupled up with Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, 27, had said his reasons for doing so was because she called him and his partner the fakest couple. 

Dami, coupled up with Indiyah Polack, 23, confessed he pied Tasha because she usually ‘gets away with a lot of stuff’ after openly criticising her in the villa.

And Luca, coupled up with Gemma Owen, 19, told her: ‘I could give you a list, [of reasons] but I’ll let it go for today. It’s just a game.’

On top of fans using the word ‘bullying, Love Island alum Amber Gill wrote on social media: ‘Gosh I hope Tasha is OK. These boys are basically bullying her at this point.’

Gemma‘s mother Louise Owen also criticised Luca and Dami‘s behaviour towards Tasha, saying it was ‘close to bullying’.

Luca and Dami received harsh criticism from viewers for the way they have treated Tasha in recent days and Luca’s family members have now said they have been left ‘broken’ over the awful comments they have received about him. 

Louise commented on an Instagram clip of the moment Tasha asked Andrew to be her boyfriend and wrote: ‘I hope Tasha is ok, I feel it’s close to bullying now which is so sad to see’. 

Later in the show, the two men apologised to Tasha with Brighton based fishmonger Luca admitting he was ‘out of line’.

He said: ‘I do actually genuinely feel bad right now for what I said and I’m sorry’. Luca said.

Echoing his words Dami agreed saying: ‘I do support you and Andrew and obviously we have our opinions about everything that happened’.

He continued: ‘I have said to you I thought you always get away with everything so I just thought it would be funny to say ‘you always get away with everything well you’re not getting away with this pie’.

Before adding: ‘I don’t want it to be like I’m ganging up on you. I actually want us to be friends.’

Tasha hugged both men and they agreed to draw a line under the situation, however fans were left unconvinced the apologies was genuine, believing that viewers may have put them up to it.  

Moreover, Billy Brown’s sister was forced to defend him on social media after he came under fire from viewers over his treatment of Danica Taylor, during the Snog, Marry, Pie challenge and branded the Love Island villa a ‘mad toxic place’.

The now eliminated roofer, 23, was slammed by fans of the ITV show who were ‘disgusted’ after he laughed and called their recent showdown ‘mental’ while Danica voiced her feelings.

He also received backlash after he upset Danica by ignoring her during the challenge and later dumped the dancer saying they had no ‘spark’.

Despite being his love interest at the time, Billy refused to either kiss or propose to Danica during the challenge.

Instead the roofing company director chose to snog Gemma, who he has previously been accused of flirting with, and marry Paige Thorne, 24, labelling his actions ‘banter.’

Danica was left fuming, saying: ‘I’m not having this,’ and later cried to the other girls about how she was having such bad luck in the villa.

Later Billy said: ‘It’s just banter, I’m sick of this s**t.’

On top of this, Dami chose to kiss his Casa Amor ex Summer Botwe, 22, to the shock of Indiyah.

He then tried to marry Indiyah but she was having none of it and threw the ring off the hill.

MailOnline has contacted a spokesperson for Love Island for comment. 

CHALLENGE: MOVIE NIGHT

Complaints: 2481 for misogynistic and controlling behaviour 

A week ago, Love Island was hit by 3,617 complaints from viewers in just seven days.

Fans were delighted when Love Island brought back the Movie Night challenge which sees both the girls watch clips of their partners during their time in Casa Amor.  

Figures released by Ofcom showed that 2481 viewers alone complained about ‘alleged misogynistic behaviour by some of the male contestants’ during the July 17 Movie Night episode.

Tasha was once again of the main targets during both Movie Night and the dares game after Luca and Dami repeatedly criticised her behaviour during her relationship with Andrew.

After the boys clubbed together and cheered on their Casa Amor antics during Movie Night, despite the girls’ upset, the male islanders also came under fire for their behaviour during a game of dares.

Taking part in a game of ‘Suck and Blow’, tensions rose as the game led to Andrew coming to blows with close friends Luca and Dami.

Dami was asked to rub the feet of the islander who has been walked over most in the villa and he went for Andrew – once again making his feelings clear on Tasha.

Luca was asked to choose the Islander ‘riding on their partners coattails’, he picked Tasha and explained that he thought she’s the one most with her partner in order to win.

Dami echoed this and said ‘you know what you need to do’.

Viewers also expressed concern for Luca’s treatment of his love interest Gemma Owen after Movie Night with his heated outburst. 

In reaction, Luca lost his temper and said to the boys: ‘You were f***ing flirting! And I was made out to look like an idiot for it.

‘I can’t stand liars mate. If you wanna flirt then I’ll flirt, Get me a bombshell in here now. I have been made to look like a f***ing mug. I am bringing that up with her 100%.’

It has been revealed that Luca’s Twitter account has been deleted amid the backlash to his behaviour on the show. 

During a search for the star the page that comes up reads: ‘This account doesn’t exist’, despite him previously using the platform.

It is not clear if his family were the ones to delete the account or if it was removed.

Luca’s family took to Instagram Stories on his account at the time to say they don’t condone his behaviour towards partner Gemma.

Fans had called for Gemma to break off her relationship with the fishmonger, after he raged at her for ‘flirting’ with Billy on Sunday night’s show.

And his family have said that while he would be ’embarrassed’ by his actions and will no doubt apologise, he doesn’t deserve the abuse he has been getting. 

They say his behaviour is not reflective of the boy they ‘know and love at home’ but noted that his Love Island experience is an intense one. 

Earlier in the week 167 viewers complained about the first installment of Movie Night, when footage was shown of Ekin-Su in bed with George during Casa Amor. 

Davide branded Ekin-Su a liar after the clip was shown, after she claimed ‘nothing happened.’

427 viewers complained about the incident being discussed during the July 17 episode of Aftersun.

The Aftersun complaints were also in relation to ex contestant Jacques O’Neil’s treatment during his interview with Laura, after he walked out of the show to protect his mental health.

Finally, on the July 12 episode of Love Island, 129 complaints were received, with the majority ‘related to Adam entering the villa, and Jacques’ wellbeing in the lead up to and during his departure from the villa.’

Since leaving the villa Jacques has told how he left Love Island over fears he’d lose control but claims bosses tried to make him stay.

The reality personality, 23, decided to remove himself following the arrival of Adam Collard, 26, as he declared: ‘Love Island was the worst decision of my life.’

Jacques was rattled by the arrival of former contestant Adam, who set his sights on the rugby player’s partner Paige Thorne, 24, before telling his fellow Islanders that the sportsman was ‘immature’.

Adam, who was known for his womanising ways, made a shock comeback to the ITV2 show after originally appearing in series four in 2018.

Gemma’s ex, Jacques, said he’d reached breaking point after Adam’s arrival, telling The Sun: ‘I thought if I don’t get myself out things could go horribly wrong and I could get physical.’

Jacques said he removed his microphone and walked out the front doors of the villa before producers intercepted, prompting him to demand to be left alone.

He claims he’d been gone a day before bosses coaxed him back when he had a ‘welfare chat’ about his situation.

He insisted he ‘couldn’t deal with it’ any longer and was in tears, saying he wanted to return to the UK.

He added: ‘It broke me and I was already broken. I was crying my eyes out. I couldn’t cope. I was literally feeling awful. It was the worst I’d ever felt in my life.’

Jacques’ family revealed during his time in the villa that he had been diagnosed with ADHD at the age of nine and sometimes struggled to deal with emotional situations

All the complaints have been registered by Ofcom but there has been no decision yet from the media regulator to investigate.

ITV told MailOnline in response to the bullying claims: ‘We cannot stress highly enough how seriously we treat the emotional well-being of all of our Islanders.’

‘Welfare is always our greatest concern, and we have dedicated welfare producers and psychological support on hand at all times, who monitor and regularly speak to all of the Islanders in private and off camera.’

‘At the same time, we also have a duty of care towards the Islanders, none of whom have any means of defending themselves against these highly damaging labels, as well as a duty of care towards their next of kin, and we are naturally concerned that this could provoke a negative response on social media.’

‘Ahead of this series, contributors on the show were offered video training and guidance covering inclusive language around disability, sexuality, race and ethnicity, behaviours and microaggressions.

‘We are always looking at how we expand and evolve on this training to ensure that all of our Islanders feel they are part of a safe and inclusive environment.’

In response to the complaints about Aftersun and Laura Whitmore and the panellists’ discussion about Ekin-Su and the interview with Jacques, ITV stated:

‘Laura is the presenter of the show, and part of that role is to pose questions to the panel and discuss events in the Villa.’

‘We do not condone trolling against either our host or our Islanders and any subsequent elevation of these comments.

‘We had various measures in place to ensure Jacques’ welfare was prioritised at all times ahead of and during his appearance on Aftersun.’

‘This included a full briefing with show producers to outline the show’s content and likely questioning, a conversation with Laura before and after the show was recorded, and chaperoning from both a welfare producer and a member of his family while he was in studio.

‘Should an Islander not wish to participate in the Aftersun recording, we would always respect that decision.’