Season one of Love Island started with a bang as viewers in 2015 tuned in to watch Jon propose to his girlfriend of 5 weeks, Hannah.
Season one of Love Island started with a bang as viewers in 2015 tuned in to watch Jon propose to his girlfriend of 5 weeks, Hannah. However, what began as a drama filled British reality dating show aiming to find ingle contestants love whilst in a villa abroad has descended into a reflection of the toxic dating culture in modern society. With the show gaining over 1.8 million followers across its official social media accounts in 2025 elective editing for dramatization and viewer engagement now is at an all-time high. TikTok recaps of nightly episodes and curated clips of high emotion scenes have further detached these reality TV contestants either further from reality… ironic, right?
With social media clips being short, snappy and created in pursuit of a viral moment, the audience now receives less of the full picture. Orchestrated out of context moments are replacing the need for nightly hour episodes as echo chambers of problematic messages are now deeply embedded within the programs rhetoric on social media.
The recent 2025 season of Love Island, season 12, has come under fire for the misogyny, toxic masculinity and sexism displayed on our screens. The peak of this behaviour was demonstrated by 22 year old bombshell Harrison Solomon, who initially couped up with American contestant Toni Laites, enjoyed a short romance with air hostess Helena Ford and later had his head turned by Lauren Wood in Casa Amor.
His behaviour caused chaos in the villa as he simultaneously played both Toni and Lauren. His declaration that he was not ready to end his relationship with Toni, whilst sleeping with his current partner Lauren two nights in a row had him branded as an evil man by fellow contestants. Harrison ultimately left the villa off his own accord following Lauren being dumped although his blindsiding of both Toni and Lauren sparked widespread criticism on social media.
Women’s Aid, a charity working to end domestic abuse, shared a statement about Harrison’s behaviour. They told The Tab that Love Island and other reality TV shows have continued to allow those with a ‘history of abusive, coercive and manipulative behaviour in previous relationships’ onto the show. The charity called for production companies to be more selective when casting contestants stating that the patterns shown on these shows are ‘steeped in misogyny and sexism’.
Speaking to The Mail Harrison responded to the statement saying it was ‘not nice to hear’, especially when he has a little sister and is close with his mum. Respect has been closely tied to family within this season of Love Island as the boys repeatedly encouraged each other to imagine it was their little sisters when mistreating a woman. This reinforces the idea that women are only deserving of respect if there is a familial tie. It makes respect feel conditional.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop at Harrison. Dejon, an OG contestant who coupled up with Meg from the start, also displayed disrespectful actions throughout his time. Putting down other girls in an attempt to reassure his Meg despite waiting until the final weeks to become official had him branded as the ‘biggest gameplayer’ during challenges.
Due to this behaviour from the boys, we have seen the girls be polarised against each other. Competition between two girl camps within the villa became the talking point of this season. Internalised misogyny was also problematic. Lauren, a victim of Harrison’s actions was repeatedly mocked by girls in the villa for ‘moving too fast’, despite being completely blindsided.
However, this season also brought us the strongest female friendships in Love Island so far. In the face of belittling behaviour from male contestants, Yaz, Toni and Shakira stood fiercely against this. Termed ‘reality show royalty’ by i-D magazine this iconic trio captured the hearts of viewers. Commended for their commitment to never trying to fit in they have been praised for remaining authentic to their true selves in the face of bullying in the villa. Yasmin Pettit coined ‘YasGPT’ by fans for her perfect posture claimed they ‘were the outcasts’ and they just wanted to own it. A narrative that has been refreshing compared to the previous seasons of the show.
Yas GPT also gained popularity for her stand against Ben Holbrough a contestant that deemed her irrelevant only after she rejected him. Ofcom received over 1000 complaints over this feud and Ben responded after being dumped from the island. He claimed it was a big lesson and there is no bigger stage to learn from than Love Island. But is reality TV really the place to develop under scrutiny?
Reality TV therefore offers us an escape but also it also provides a platform for casual misogyny and bullying. This behaviour mirrors the modern dating reality, and when it goes unchallenged in our screens, it excuses mirrored behaviour in society. Harmful behaviour becomes trivialised under the guise of entertainment. With the unattainable standards of masculinity, being a ‘girls girl’ (a modern label for friendship and loyalty) and the demand to fit into a narrow aesthetic box being placed onto these contestants, can the show continue to air as it spirals towards disrespect.