Alright, it’s officially time to address the toxic bullying aimed at Love Island stars. While the islanders are busy being messy for the cameras in Fiji, they’re blissfully unaware of the vicious TikTok comments and tweets mocking their every move, calling them names, and diagnosing them with a variety of mental disorders. For a supposedly ~progressive~ generation, it’s a touch alarming. This season, of course, Huda Mustafa is the primary target. While it’s totally fair to criticize her problematic behavior toward Jeremiah and poke fun at her in a lighthearted way, it’s not okay to harass her family, slam her parenting skills, or engage in other invasive personal attacks.
The social media harassment has gotten so bad recently that on the June 24 episode of Love Island USA, the show took a stand, sharing a statement urging fans to be kinder online. “THE KEYWORD IN LOVE ISLAND IS… LOVE,” the message read. “WE LOVE OUR ISLANDERS, WE DON’T LOVE CYBERBULLYING, HARASSMENT OR HATE.” A follow-up post on the official X account echoed the sentiment: “We appreciate the fans, the passion for the series, and the amazing group of Islanders who are sharing their summer with us. Please just remember they’re real people — so let’s be kind and spread the love!”
Let’s get into the Love Island cyberbullying issue, the show’s mental health protocols, and the tragic consequences that have resulted from the harassment of cast members in the past.
Love Island Cyberbullying Discourse: Contestants’ Mental Health, Suicides
Love Island‘s Cyberbullying Problem And Mental Health Protocols
Amid the relentless Huda backlash, her baby daddy, Noah Sheline, addressed the haters in a June 16 TikTok Story statement. “At the end of the day I hope everyone remembers we’re human,” he wrote. “Her going on that show to find love, or whatever you think it was she’s doing, remember she’s still human, she has a daughter, and a life.” Noah called the hate “unhealthy” and asked fans to remember that this will affect her and their daughter. “It’s not my job to police her or the people in my comments, but I will say what you guys do will affect her mental health and my daughter’s maybe in the future,” he said. “So I’m looking out for her in that aspect. Out of respect for our daughter.”
Ace has likely received more than his fair share of criticism this season, too. He’s been accused of being overly jealous of or threatened by Jeremiah and manipulating the rest of the boys to get his way. On top of that, a photo showing his feet not touching the ground has sparked a new wave of jokes about his height. Cierra hasn’t been spared either, which hurts me because she’s such an icon. She’s getting roasted over her rumored lip-filler, with fans zooming in on photos of her top lip, claiming they can’t stop staring and scrutinizing the work she’s had done. Similarly, Love Island fans have commented that Iris looks way older than 25 because of certain cosmetic procedures.
A week after Huda’s baby daddy spoke out, host Ariana Madix commented on the bullying during an Aftersun episode. (The kind of episode no one watches, unfortunately.) “Love Island has the best fans across the entire globe,” she said. “Passionate — and I love that. There’s such a great, amazing communal experience when it comes to watching the show, but I do want to say something to some of those people who are online.”
She added, “Don’t be contacting people’s families. Don’t be doxing people. Don’t be going on islanders’ pages and saying rude things.” Amen. Ariana pointed out that people still have time to delete cruel comments because the islanders don’t have access to their phones yet. “Please be nice, or I’ll come find you,” she warned.
Because harsh online criticism is an inevitable part of participating in the show, there are policies in place to help keep cast members safe. According to Collider, Love Island‘s mental health protocols currently include mandatory psychological screening, social media training, at least eight therapy sessions after leaving the villa, and proactive care for 14 months post-filming.
Love Island Suicides
Tragically, three people on Love Island UK died by suicide between 2018 and 2020. Season 2 contestant Sophie Gradon took her life in 2018, and season 3 star Mike Thalassitis sadly did the same a year later. They had notably both experienced nonstop negative media coverage and online harassment. In 2020, the world got the same devastating news about beloved Love Island UK host Caroline Flack. After this string of tragedies, there was actually a movement to get Love Island UK taken off the air.
The UK version obviously continued, but they’ve implemented new mental health protocols over the years. In 2018, they began requiring contestants to have a post-finale assessment with a mental health professional. In 2022, a new “Duty of Care” policy required cast members to watch a video about “how to cope with being filmed 24/7” and “dealing with social media trolling.”
Of course, the Love Island UK and Love Island USA cultures are very different (that’s a whole other article), but still, just be mindful of what you’re tweeting and posting on TikTok. Is it valid criticism? Harmless fun? If it’s deeply personal and has nothing to do with their behavior on the show, maybe hit delete.
