‘Love Island’ maker cites ‘logistical difficulties’ for not bringing in LGBTQ forged members

Love Island is a British dating reality series produced by ITV. The series is the originator of the international Love Island franchise, with fifteen versions of it having been produced so far. Recently, the maker of the series Amanda Stavri claimed that bringing in LGBTQ cast members would lead to logistical difficulties in the show. 

Love Island maker talks about not having LGBTQ cast members 

In an interview with Radio Times, ITV commissioner Amanda Stavri responded to rumours about the dating reality show bringing in LGBTQ cast members and cited ‘logistical difficulties’ for not including queer people. She stated that the makers want to encourage greater inclusivity and diversity but in terms of gay Islanders, the main challenge is regarding the format of Love Island. Amanda also added that there is a sort of logistical difficulty because although Islanders don’t have to be 100% straight, the format must sort of give an equal choice when coupling up. 

Talking further about adding queer members to dating shows, Amanda quipped that with shows such as The Cabins, there is much more sexual diversity and the formats don’t have as many restrictions as Love Island. A few days ago, Love Island‘s executive producer Richard Cowles also made a statement regarding the same topic and was quoted saying that it is not possible but it is not something they shy away from. He, too, gave the same reason and cited logistical difficulties. 

More about the show 

Love Island involves a group of contestants, referred to as Islanders, living in isolation from the outside world in a villa. 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. The show is a revival of the earlier celebrity series of the same name, which aired for two series in 2005 and 2006 on ITV.

Image – Love Island Instagram Account