This show tries to grapple with the fact that three people associated with the reality juggernaut have killed themselves. But it forgets that the dating series doesn\u2019t exist in a vacuum<\/p>\n
In summer 2015, ITV revived its 00s reality format Celebrity Love Island, a show that was remembered mostly as a drunken, downmarket rival to Big Brother. Its new, slick, civilian Love Island was a slow-burn at first, but by 2017 it was one of British TV\u2019s biggest hits. While it remains among ITV\u2019s hottest properties, viewing figures are now more modest, with 600,000 people tuning in for its 2026 launch. Tastes have changed, but the fact that three people associated with the show \u2013 former contestants Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon, and Caroline Flack, the presenter for five series \u2013 took their lives, may also have made viewers wary.<\/p>\n
Timed to coincide with the finale of the latest series of Love Island on Monday, Prime Video has released this two-parter about the apparent \u201ccurse\u201d that stalks the programme. It opens with former contestant Anton Danyluk, who appeared on the show in 2019, declaring that there is \u201cno higher high than the summer you\u2019re preparing for Love Island\u201d. But a stint in the show\u2019s Mallorcan villa proved less of a high for some. Luis Morrison \u2013 a 2015 Islander \u2013 says it feels \u201cdisgusting\u201d and \u201cembarrassing\u201d to watch the show back. \u201cEveryone was having sex and stuff,\u201d he says. Malin Andersson, a 2016 contestant, says, looking back, the show feels \u201cquite toxic \u2026 so superficial and artificial\u201d. Watching footage of herself coming into the villa for a post-elimination row with her partner, Terry, Andersson alleges there was much meddling on the part of the programme-makers: \u201cThe producers are fucking with people who can feel deep things!\u201d<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/5bdb02f60d2572d58523cedeed410ee746184393\/229_0_2310_1848\/master\/2310.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=6395b6eebd8fd367ceec305d0c53db41\" "\\"The")
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