You may have heard of Love Island, or you may be very confused and believe this is, in fact, the name of an actual island in the middle of an ocean. Whatever your stance towards it may be, you may not be aware that a huge hype has built around the show in recent years and that in the last year, it has become an award-winning reality TV programme. 

Yes, it is true. British people up and down the United Kingdom have become truly enthralled by this ITV2 programme that has been on every summer since 2015. This hugely successful TV entertainment is on almost every day of the week and sees people ‘coupling-up’ in order to stay on the show, with the occasional bombshell thrown in to spice up the villa they stay in. All of this is done with the objective of finding love, or winning the £50,000 cash prize, depending on how cynically you want to judge the show.

LOVE ISLAND: Reality Television at Its Finest

Should this even be televised?

Naturally, with sometimes 15 people in one villa that they are confined to, all fighting to be paired up with someone, predominantly of the opposite sex, the villa tends to get very heated in more ways than one…

Unsurprisingly, the audience often waits in anticipation for drama to start spewing from the Love Island melting pot, which the producers of the show never fail to provide. Be it girls fighting over a man they have known for two days and accusing the other of being disloyal or men acting like peacocks displaying their testosterone in the outside gym in front of giggling women, there is always conflict brewing. This can often result in horrendous language and unjustifiable and offensive behaviour being displayed daily on national UK television. To make matters even more embarrassing for the British population, watching this programme is almost becoming part of youth culture, with people as young as 13 becoming hooked and describing the show as something that joins people together through discussion.

However, the other way the villa heats up and meets its slogan of “it’s going to be a long, hot summer,” as Caroline Flack, the ITV2 presenter, states in advertisements, is through watching couples having sex… on national television. Nothing explicit is actually shown on the show; however, the sounds and movement of bed sheets are more than enough to leave little to the imagination. With so many people watching this show and with it on most days in the summer from 21:00, is this even acceptable?

Accurately Representing Society

Some argue that this programme is representing the part of youth culture and society that appears alien to the older generation. This reality TV show accurately represents the Tinder generation that people are now growing up in—dating applications generated to cater to each person’s one-night stand needs. Does this show encourage this generation further? Or do people simply not approve of the show because it is showing the part of new British culture that people prefer to ignore? Or is the show strengthening sexuality and presenting it as something natural, defying the antiquated connotations with sex? Whatever the answer one thing is for certain, this programme most definitely causes debate within many British households.

Social Media Take-Over

This craze is reaching new levels of popularity, high enough to compete against Big Brother’s popularity, based on the UK alone. It has become the norm for most British people to see their timelines on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media become inundated with running commentaries and opinions on the blossoming couples that change as often as the tides that surround the island the contestants are on. It has gotten to the point that the TV show is simply inescapable, meaning the size of the audience is constantly on the rise, with more people feeling this sexually driven programme is a must-see for the next six weeks.

This Week’s Episode

For those of you intrigued by this programme, read on and find out what happened this week in the biggest recoupling of the season so far:

Firstly, we saw the first ever coupling after the contestants’ arrival in the villa. It saw Niall pairing up with Kendall, Laura with Wes, Dani with Jack, and Hayley paired up with Eyal, leaving Samira and Alex together by default as the only two islanders remaining. By the end of the week, the island’s challenges and new islanders caused quite a stir with the couples completely switching up. In the recoupling that happened on Wednesday, Dani stuck with Jack, and Laura remained loyal to Wes. Hayley and Naomi picked the newcomers Josh and Charlie, respectively. Newcomer, Megan, riled the general public by picking Eyal, which left Samira sticking by her friend and heart-throb doctor, Alex. To round off the recoupling, Rosie picked Adam, even though he caused the biggest drama of the season so far by stating his interest in Megan whilst being paired with Rosie.

Last Word on Love Island

If all of this means absolutely nothing to you and you want to find out about the events that caused such a shake-up in the villa, then watch it on ITV and catch up on previous episodes on the ITV player online. After watching, you will be able to make up your own mind on this controversial programme on everyone’s lips and might just become as hooked as everyone else.

Main Image Credit: