Love Island fans have been pouring praise on the show after seeing how ethnically diverse the latest season is.
The 10th series of the ITV2 reality dating show kicked off on Monday (5 June), with seven out of the 12 current contestants being from non-white backgrounds. This comes in contrast to numerous seasons over the years that have been filled with perma-tanned blondes.
For the first time, Love Island is also hosted by a woman of colour, Maya Jama.
Former Love Island star Dami Hope led praise for the show’s diversity last night (7 June), posting on Twitter: “Tonight might be the night I tune into Love Island cause this representation and diversity off the bat is crazy.”
“We’ve been screaming diversity and suddenly Love Island feels like a day party,” tweeted one fan.
“Notice how lit Love Island is when there’s more diversity?” added another. “We’ve not had a dry episode yet. We’re only three episodes in. DEEP IT!”
A third wrote: “The POC women getting the most attention in the villa is reparations for nine seasons of neglect. The diversity, the beauty, and the plot lines…”
A fourth posted: “The diversity team came through this season boy.”
This praise from viewers comes despite the launch episode being watched by just 1.3 million viewers on Monday, a million down on this time last year.
There are also still calls to for the show to feature more diverse body types.
Bombshell Whitney Adebayo joined the villa last night (7 June), and immediately formed a connection with Andre. However, the four-year age gap was repeatedly mentioned as a potential roadblock to a relationship.
Meet all the contestants and couples on Love Island 2023 here.
Love Island airs Sunday to Friday at 9pm on ITV2.
