Love Island Receives More Than 700 Ofcom Complaints

A representative of Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, recently confirmed to Tyla that the show has received a total of 781 official complaints so far through the system for the 2022 series.

The spokesperson told us that the complaints were about various topics and incidents on the show, including bullying as well as certain contestants being shown on screen more than others.

Tyla has contacted a representative of ITV and Ofcom for comment.

In fact, an episode with included a kiss between 19-year-old Gemma Owen and 27-year-old Davide Sanclimenti within the series spurred more than 160 complaints.

Love Island viewers previously contacted the organisation after feeling ‘uncomfortable’ when the kiss was shown on screen.

The intimate moment between Gemma and Davide took place during an ice-breaker game on the show, when the daughter of footballer Michael Owen wanted to show her feelings for the Italian contestant. Check out the clip here:

The day after, Davide chose to be in a couple with Gemma, but many viewers of the show felt that the pair being together ‘did not sit right’ with them due to their eight-year age gap. Viewers then took to Ofcom to complain about the episode 167 times.

Elsewhere on the show, the pair previously addressed their almost 10-year age gap.

The 27-year-old ‘Italian snack’ asked the 19-year-old about her thoughts regarding their age difference.

Davide asked: “What do you think about the fact I’m much older than you? You not bothered about that?”

Gemma replied: “No it’s not an issue for me at all. I feel like if it was I wouldn’t have wanted to get to know you in the first place and as I’ve said I’ve been speaking to guys and seeing guys.”

Davide interrupted and said: "…who are much older than you?”

Gemma agreed, continuing: “Yeah, so it’s not something that I'm not used to or you’re the only one or anything like that. It's very normal for me. I feel like for you, is it an issue?”