By Sammie Jones-
A recent episode of ITV’s Love Island sparked almost 25,000 complaints to regulator Ofcom, calling attention to the producers to be careful about some of the stirring they do.
The complaints follow last Friday’s instalment saw in which Faye Winter confronted her partner Teddy Soares over footage, shown out of context from Casa Amor week.
A clip of Teddy had showed him telling Clarisse Juliette, who has since been eliminated, that he was attracted to her.
He also told her he was “technically single” during a flirty exchange and the pair were then shown kissing during a challenge
Most of the 24,763 complaints related to Faye’s behaviour. Ofcom is deciding whether to launch an investigation.
Previously, more than 4,000 viewers complained that July’s Casa Amor postcard episode was manipulative toward the female islanders.
“We’ve received a high volume of complaints about last week’s Love Island, which is consistent with a trend of growing complaints about high-profile TV shows,” a spokesperson for the broadcasting regulator said.
“We are carefully assessing the complaints we’ve received, before deciding whether or not to investigate.”
Ofcom said the “vast majority” of the complaints related to the fallout from the Movie Night challenge, which involved islanders viewing footage of each other’s behaviour while living apart in separate villas during Casa Amor week.
A clip of Teddy showed him telling Clarisse Juliette, who has since been eliminated, that he was attracted to her.
He also told her he was “technically single” during a flirty exchange and the pair were then shown kissing during a challenge.
However, he did not act on his remarks outside the game, otherwise remaining faithful to Faye.
After the clip was played to the islanders, Faye, who has admitted to trust issues, launched into an outburst.
The heated exchange sparked a debate over Faye’s behaviour and Love Island’s production values.
The New Statesman writer Sarah Manavis questioned whether producers had put pressure on the couple.
Responding to the backlash on Sunday via a statement posted on Faye’s Instagram story, her family urged viewers to remember they were watching a “highly edited TV show which is created for entertainment”.
“Faye is human. She may not always get things right,” they said. “There are human beings managing the islander’s social media pages who will be seriously effected [sic] by your comments. We ask that everyone please remembers this before commenting or messaging.”
Teddy and Faye reconciled on Tuesday, with Faye saying: “I am really sorry for the way I spoke to you.
“There’s no excuse for the way I spoke to you or how I raised my voice and no-one should have someone speak to them like that.”