Women’s Aid confirms talks with Love Island bosses about ‘controlling behaviour’ in villa after ‘misogynistic’ scenes-Alicia Adejobi-Entertainment – Metro

Some of the Love Island boys have come under fire for their treatment of the girls (Picture: Rex Features)

Women’s Aid has addressed the mounting backlash Love Island has received over the ‘misogynistic and controlling behaviour’ exhibited in recent scenes on the popular dating series. 

Viewers have been gripped by the high drama on the ITV2 show particularly during the Mad Movies episodes, which saw the islanders watch clips of each other getting up to no good in Casa Amor and the main villa. 

In recent episodes, Luca Bish was seen blowing up at partner Gemma Owen while accusing her of ‘flirting’ with Billy Brown despite her insisting she wasn’t ‘entertaining’ the bombshell’s advances. Among other examples, Davide Sanclimenti has repeatedly branded Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu a ‘liar’ during explosive arguments, despite himself straying and kissing Coco Lodge in Casa Amor. 

Dami Hope was also slammed for his treatment of Summer Botwe last night, shouting that she was ‘fake’ while glossing over his own behaviour in Casa Amor, which included a three-way kiss while coupled up with Indiyah Polack.

Former contestant Jacques O’Neill was also criticised for his attitude and comments towards Paige Thorne before he made the decision to exit the villa after struggling to cope with the pressurised environment. 

Following heightened backlash after last night’s episode, charity Women’s Aid has confirmed it is in discussions with ITV about their duty of care regarding relationships. 

Luca Bish’s family say they do not condone his behaviour towards Gemma Owen in last night’s episode (Picture: Rex Features)

Davide Sanclimenti has repeatedly called Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu a ‘liar’ despite her making efforts to stay loyal and offer him reassurance (Picture: ITV)

Teresa Parker, head of communications and media relations at Women’s Aid, told Metro.co.uk:‘At Women’s Aid we are being tagged into a stream of Twitter posts, with viewers of Love Island highlighting the misogyny and controlling behaviour being shown on screen. 

‘This is clearly more than talking about any individual contestants, and a programme based around the formation of romantic relationships must have guidelines on what behaviour is acceptable and unacceptable in those relationships.

‘We are talking to ITV, and they have shared with us information on their inclusion training, but what appears to be missing is specific information on abusive relationships and an understanding of controlling behaviour in relationships.’ 

Parker said it is important that Love Island producers are able to recognise when to ‘intervene and challenge unacceptable behaviour’. 

Jacques O’Neill was criticised for the way he spoke to Paige Thorne before quitting the series (Picture: ITV)

Adam Collard, who was accused of gaslighting on the show in 2018, has returned to the villa this year (Picture: Rex Features)

‘Women’s Aid has offered to help, and we want to assure people tagging us into posts that we are in conversation with ITV and the Love Island producers about what we can do moving forward to help address this,’ she said. 

The spokesperson continued: ‘We have a new campaign called Come Together to End Domestic Abuse about the role everyone has to play in ending abuse. 

‘ITV can play an important role here, by dealing with something that is clearly an ongoing issue for the show, and at Women’s Aid we want to help where we can. 

‘Thank you to viewers who are raising concerns with us, and be assured that we are listening and speaking to the team at Love Island about the issues raised.’ 

After his behaviour towards Gemma in Sunday night’s episode, Luca’s family has since released a statement explaining that they do not condone his strong reaction and apologised on his behalf. 

It’s not the first time Women’s Aid has spoken out about Love Island this series, as the charity previously issued a warning after it was announced controversial contestant Adam Collard was returning to the villa. 

Adam, 26, first appeared on Love Island in 2018 and was accused of gaslighting several women on his series. After making his grand return, the fitness fanatic has struck up a romance with Paige who was previously coupled up with Jacques until he quit the show.

Love Island airs nightly at 9pm on ITV2.

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