Ofcom will not investigate the 2,600 complaints made against ‘Love Island’ over the treatment of Dani Dyer.
The UK communications regulator was inundated with people lodging grievances over the episode earlier this month, in which the daughter of ‘EastEnders’ actor Danny Dyer was shown a clip of her boyfriend Jack Fincham revealing in second villa Casa Amor that he used to date one of the then-new Islanders, Ellie Jones.
However, a spokesperson has said Ofcom "understood" the scene may have caused concern, but that "viewers are likely to expect emotionally-charged scenes".
They added how they "carefully considered" the complaints, however they felt that it is made clear by the ITV2 programme that "scenes have been engineered to test contestants’ relationships".
An Ofcom spokeswoman told BANG Showbiz at the time: "We are considering these complaints against our broadcasting rules, before deciding whether or not to investigate."
Former Islander Eyal Booker defended the show, insisting the contestants were already warned that producers would be "testing" them within their relationships.
He said: "In the show’s defence, before we went in to the villa they told us this is a show about testing you within your relationships and within your couple.
"Jack and Dani up until that point had never been tested. Nothing that Dani was shown didn’t happen. It was just a very short clip. And within that villa you over-think everything … they knew she was going to do that."
What’s more, 557 complaints were lodged about a separate episode last week, involving newcomer Idris Virgo after he told Laura Anderson that her partner Jack Fowler had made advances on Georgia Steel, when video footage showed it was in fact the other way around.
An Ofcom spokesperson confirmed then they were assessing the grievances.
Laura confronted Jack about Idris’ claims in the episode on July 11, resulting in the two lads clashing.
Jack blasted: "With Laura I’ve been squashing it, trying to progress with it and then you’ve come in here and you’ve started chatting rubbish, you’ve tried to break up a couple and you’ve got a game plan."
Idris replied: "Who said that?"
But Jack fired back: "That’s how it comes across. It’s not cool."
Two episodes from last month, which involved Rosie Williams and Adam Collard clashing, will also not be investigated.
A spokesperson said: "We carefully considered viewers’ concerns about the treatment of a female contestant by a male contestant on this established reality programme.
"While we appreciate this made for uncomfortable viewing for some people, we consider that viewers are likely to expect emotionally charged, confrontational scenes involving couples breaking up.
"Other contestants also expressed general disapproval in response to the male contestant’s behaviour.
"We did not, therefore pursue these complaints."
Ofcom close Love Island case
