Love Island: A Flirtation With Surveillance
Love Island is a British dating game show. It is a revival of the earlier celebrity series of the same name, which aired for two series in 2005 and 2006 on ITV. The series is narrated by Iain Stirling, and was hosted by Caroline Flack until 2019; Laura Whitmore began presenting the series in 2020. The series is the originator of the international Love Island franchise, with 15 versions of it having been produced so far.
The show has been highly successful and influential in British popular culture;[1] it became ITV2‘s most watched show in the network’s history in 2018,[2] and as of 2020 was the most watched TV show among its target audience of 16-34 year olds.[3] However, it has attracted a considerable amount of controversy, with four people linked to the show having died by suicide. Contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis died by suicide after appearing on the programme; Gradon’s boyfriend died by suicide about 20 days after her death. The following year the shows presenter, Caroline Flack also died by suicide, there were calls from some to cancel the programme.[4]
