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Capital Xtra’s Will Njobvu claims lack of dark-skinned representation is not down to Love Island-Stella Akinwumi-Entertainment – Metro
‘We are not in the era where dark skin is highly desirable.’
Will fronted Channel 4’s Life after Love Island (Picture: REX)
Capital Xtra radio host Will Njobvu believes the lack of dark-skinned representation in mainstream media is not down to Love Island.
In Channel 4’s latest documentary, titled Life after Love Island, the 28-year-old presenter speaks to former contestants who have appeared on the hit dating show to discuss the downsides of fame once they exit the villa.
The ITV2 phenomenon launched in 2015 and has welcomed over 259 hopefuls, and the documentary – which aired on December 1 – explained that 28 have secured lucrative brand deals while over 130 returned back to their normal job.
Series eight star Ikenna Ekwonna explained that he gave up his job as a pharmaceutical salesman to pursue a career in content creating , but hasn’t had any luck as of yet.
The one-off special also highlights the 22% pay gap between black and white influencers, with white influencers, with stars including the likes of Molly Mae Hague, Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Gemma Owen collaborating with Pretty Little Thing and Oh Polly.
Despite Love Island being the common ground for all of the stars, Will believes that the lack of representation for Black people isn’t down to the show.
‘One thing I’ve realised from doing this doc is that this isn’t an ITV problem, this is a societal problem,’ he told us.
‘Indiyah [Polack] is the first black woman to hit 1 million followers after leaving the show. That has nothing to do with production, that’s who society deems as beautiful and a celebrity.’
He continued: ‘There is a desirable look as one of the contributors stated, and unfortunately, we are not in the era where dark skin is highly desirable by mainstream media and society. There is a lot of work that needs to be done there.’
Ekin-Su landed a lucrative deal with Oh Polly once she left the villa (Picture: ITV)
Indiyah Polack – who starred on this year’s season – was the first Black woman to reach 1million followers and has signed a deal with Pretty Little Thing and Boots (Picture: Shutterstock)
The documentary also showed former Love Islanders like Coco Lodge expressing their initial expectation before appearing on the show.
‘The perfect scenario would have been 1million or 2million followers,’ she said.
‘But I came out with 30,000 followers and I just didn’t really understand… I was like “why does everyone hate me?”‘
Maya Jama was confirmed as the new host (Picture: Shutterstock)
Devoted Love Island fans are in for a treat next year, as the show is set to return in winter and summer – with the winter edition hosted by Maya Jama – but Will believes hopefuls should lower their expectations before applying.
‘Anyone that goes on a show like that needs to have their expectations in the right place,’ he said.
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‘Go on for fun, go on to enjoy yourself, don’t go on and hope or banking your life that you’ll be a millionaire.
‘That’s why people get upset and develop these issues after because they have this idea that they’re a “failure”, but their expectations need to be managed.’
Life after Love Island is available to stream on All4.
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