Love Island’s Mental Health Policy: Will It Make A Difference?

We all know Love Island, whether we love it or live to loathe it, it takes over Twitter and TV like the World Cup or Euros. But over the past few years, Love Island has become a talking point for the wrong reasons. Over the past 6 years, 2 contestants and 1 television host for the show have sadly ended their lives. Sophie Gradon, Mike Thalassitis, and Caroline Flack all ended their lives by choice, due to intense debt and thrilling that followed them on the show.

As the show launches today, Love Island bosses have revealed their new mental health policy to help support the contestants as they leave the show and enter stardom. Will it make a difference? We all hope so. But as a regular watcher of the show, I know that someone always ends up suffering over social media. Whether it’s Meghan Barton-Hanson for her plastic surgery transformation, or “Muggy-Mike” for merely playing the game.

Before the show goes live tonight, I want to take a look at their new policy and see if it will actually help these young singles cope with life outside the villa. They all go in wanting stardom, but it’s doubtful many of them will know what that means.

What is Love Island?

If you’ve been living under a rock, here’s a brief summary of the show:

“Love Island involves a group of contestants, referred to as Islanders, living in isolation from the outside world in a villa in Mallorca, constantly under video surveillance.

To survive in the villa the Islanders must be coupled up with another Islander, whether it be for love, friendship or money, as the overall winning couple receives £50,000. On the first day, the Islanders couple up for the first time based on first impressions, but over the duration of the series they are forced to "re-couple" where they can choose to remain in their current couple or swap and change.

Any Islander who remains single after the coupling is eliminated and dumped from the island. Islanders can also be eliminated via public vote, as during the series the public vote through the Love Island app available on smartphones for their favourite couple, or who they think is the most compatible. Couples who receive the fewest votes risk being eliminated.

Often a twist has occurred where it has been up to the Islanders to eliminate couples. During the final week, the public vote for which couple they want to win the series and therefore take home £50,000.”

-Show summary found on Wiki

The ones Love Island lost

Sophie Gradon, died on June 20th 2018.

The ex-beauty queen joined Love Island in 2016 and became one of the first same sex couples on the show.

After leaving the show, she spoke out publicly on the hate she’d received on social media for her relationship with Emma.

Exiting the ITV2 villa in 2016, Sophie also revealed in the interview that she wasn't prepared for the 'scale of comments' from their 'thousands of new followers' who heavily judged her - admitting: 'It can really get into your mind and really affect you.'

Mike Thalassitis, died 16th March 2019

The 26-year-old reality star and former footballer was found dead in a park in Edmonton, north London. Just one year after Sophie.

His death sparked calls for improved aftercare for people who take part in reality TV shows.

It was believed that Mike had severe debts following his departure from love Island, accompanied by trolling from fans who still called him “Muggy” years later.

On the show, Mike was bestowed the title “Muggy Mike” by Chris Hughes. Years later they both came out and said the name made them cringe, because it wasn’t anything like Mike in real life.

Caroline Flack, 15th February, 2020

Caroline Flacks death is still one of the most prominent celebrity tragedies for me. After being arrested for hitting her boyfriend, and an obscenely public court fight, Caroline was fired from her presenting role on Love Island and replaced by long term friend Laura Whitmore.

It’s worth stating here that Caroline’s partner has come out both before and after her death to say their relationship was not abusive. They were in the middle of a heating fight on the night Caroline was arrested and punches were thrown on both sides.

I still remember seeing her leave the courthouse, just a few days before she died. Looking absolutely broken by life. Her death caused a global conversation on the effect of social media, online hate, and everything in between. Her story is a cruel reminder of how the internet, and the press can drive someone to the edge.

So why blame Love Island?

After three people heavily associated with the show died. Many members of the public began to blame the show for not supporting these people when they really needed it.

Sophie and Mike came onto the show with no idea about the fame that would follow them and no clue how to deal with that mentally or financially. And to Caroline, Love Island was her baby, she loved the show and felt genuinely passionate about the couples she brought together. When the news came out regarding her arrest, ITV immediately dropped her from one of the most successful shows.

Now they’ve come out with their mental health policy and duty of care, it feels like a step in the right direction for the show. Will it make a difference? Only time will tell.

As a mental health first aider myself, I find it interesting to watch these shows and big businesses try keep up (or refuse to acknowledge) the changing attitudes on mental health in the workplace.

Comprehensive Psychological Support

Each Islander will go under a comprehensive psychological review before entering the show. To ensure they can deal with the pressure cooker of the villa. Senior staff will also be trained up to be mental health first aiders so they can help the stars with any issues, and help them get the support they need (should they need it).

It’s great to see Mental Health First aiders be available to Islanders. They are in no way, shape, or form professional therapists. They’re not trained to help with issues, but just like normal first aid the stars will have access to immediate support until they can be referred to a fully-qualified professional.

Social Media Training

After Sophie, Mike, Caroline, and many other Islanders have suffered harassment on social media. The shows producers will provide social media training to help the stars navigate their way through potential hate.

There’s only so much that training can help with, and you train someone to not take hate to heart. Personally I think it would be better if stars were given a social media manager or PR officer to manage their online presence. Although they won’t be able to post whatever they want, whenever they want to. Getting someone else to manage your online presence is an effective filter against hate.

Financial Management

I don’t know whether this means the Islanders will have access to an accountant, or receive another training course on taxes and managing money. But its good to see them “troubleshoot” the problems that previous Islanders have faced. Typically, each contestant only has a year to capitalise on the shows fame, as the moment the next series airs, they’re considered less valuable PR opportunities.

“Conversations” and Advice

Prepping the Islanders on life after the show should have ALWAYS been a priority for the producers. Especially after the shows continued success year after year. I’m disappointed this wasn’t part of their plan prior to series 6. But I’m glad that the series of Islanders will have access to support like this, especially after a year away, there will be more viewers watching and judging them than ever before.

It’s also mentioned that the Islanders will receive an aftercare package after the show, which hopefully means they can check in with a therapist or mental health first aider whenever they need to talk about the stresses of fame.

Whether you love it or live to loathe it. Love Island has been the case study for poor mental health support these past few years. Like many, I’m hopeful this will change. But time will tell whether or not these new rules will keep young singles safe and mentally sound.

If you enjoy reading my take on mental mental health, check out some of my previous posts:

Waving goodbye to toxic relationships