ITV rules out the possibility of LGBT+ contestants on Love Island
By Joshua Haigh
ITV has ruled out the possibility of allowing LGBT+ contestants on Love Island.
Head of ITV Studios, Kevin Lygo, opened up about his thoughts on the hugely popular dating reality show while being interviewed at Edinburgh’s TV Festival yesterday (August 25).
The show, which became the talking point of the country earlier this year and reached a record number of viewers, sees a group of men and women enter a villa in a bid to find love with each other.
There were rumours that a gay version of the show is in the works, with the show’s creator, Richard Cowles, saying he would be up for seeing how it could work.
However, Lygo shot down the claims yesterday, saying that at its heart the show couldn’t work with LGBT+ contestants.
“The format doesn’t allow it,” he told the crowd, according to UKTV’s Elliot Gonzalez.
Fans of the show might take an issue with that, considering in 2016, the ITVBe series featured two bisexual women who “coupled up” during their time in the villa. So does the format only allow it if it’s bisexual women… or?
During the same conversation, Lygo was also quizzed about the representation of LGBT+ people on television, which is still greatly lacking despite progress being made.
In response, he declared: “There are quite enough gay people on television.”
While the likes of the BBC and Channel Four showed support for the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of gay sex in the UK, ITV’s schedule remained noticeably absent of any LGBT+ shows.
With Queer Britain and The Man in an Orange Shirt airing on the Beeb, and Channel 4’s 50 Shades of Gay season being well received, it seems both broadcasters left ITV in the dust in terms of representation.
Attitude has reached out to ITV for comment.