Yahoo News 'Love Island' confirmed to go ahead this summer as some call for boycott
Love Island is still set to air this summer, despite ITV’s decision to axe The Jeremy Kyle Show.
The network today confirmed it is cancelling the daytime talk show in light of the death of guest Steven Dymond, who is believed to have taken his own life after failing a lie detector test on the show.
Some social media users have accused ITV of hypocrisy as Love Island remains on the schedule despite two former contestant deaths by suicide.
An ITV spokesperson today told Yahoo: “We are not issuing any further statements regarding Love Island but it will be back on ITV2 this summer.”
Mike Thalassitis, who appeared on the reality dating show in 2017, was found dead in March at the age of 26.
Sophie Gradon, 32, who appeared on the hit programme in 2016, was found hanged in June by her boyfriend, who later took his own life in similar circumstances.
Twitter users are calling for viewers to boycott Love Island until ITV agrees to axe the show.
The Jeremy Kyle show ended in tragedy & was axed.
What about "Love Island" also known as "Only Thin People Deserve Love"?
Two former contestants have committed suicide recently.
But it makes LOADS of money for ITV, so it won't be cancelled no matter how many people die!#Hypocrisy pic.twitter.com/sXtdhGgdwc— Gerry Stergiopoulos (@GerryGreek) May 15, 2019
Genuinely I can’t get my head around the double standards..#jeremykyle - 1 person in 15 years dies by suicide.. there’s an ENDLESS stream of venom from the press, public outrage & it’s taken off air#loveisland - 2 people die by suicide in a year... and that’s perfectly fine..
— Rebecca Jane (@LadyDetectives1) May 15, 2019
So all the tweets regarding #LoveIsland & the removal of the show, I agree for many reasons HOWEVER how many of the people with this opinion will continue to watch?! It needs to be boycotted #LoveIsland #ITV #BoycottLoveIsland
— Laura (@Laura_S_A_) May 15, 2019
Might be only 1 person, but, in light of the clear similarities in situations, I suggest a boycott of Love Island till it’s cancelled too. Can’t have 1 rule for 1 and another for a cash cow ! #boycottLoveIsland #TheJeremyKyleShow
— sarah thomson (@sarahthomson18) May 15, 2019
Love Island has since promised to extend its support process and proactively offer help to islanders participating in the new series, which recently began filming.
ITV said in a statement in March following Thalassitis’ death: “Since the terrible news there have been a lot of people questioning Love Island’s processes and aftercare. Many of the things that have been said about them bear no relation to the support we offer. We want to outline our care processes.
“We have had requests for help from former Islanders, and have provided this.
Read more: Love Island producers defend aftercare process
“We have always recognised that this should be an evolving process and six months ago we engaged Dr Paul Litchfield, an experienced physician and a Chief Medical Officer, to independently review our medical processes on Love Island. He has extensive experience of working with large companies and Government in the area of mental health.
“This review has led us to extend our support processes to offer therapy to all Islanders and not only those that reach out to us. And we will be delivering bespoke training to all future Islanders to include social media and financial management.
“The key focus will be for us to no longer be reliant on the islanders asking us for support but for us to proactively check in with them on a regular basis.”
