A Love Island fan has praised the show for this year's inclusive representation of those with disabilities.
David Parfett, from Toxteth, has been a fan of the ITV show since its first series. Since then, the 25-year-old claims the show has progressed a lot by featuring contestants with different body types, disabilities and ethnicities. The sports and physical activities coordinator said it was particularly heartwarming this year when he was able to relate to Ron Hall, the first partially-sighted contestant to appear on the dating show.
The former Liverpool Hope University student told the ECHO: “Love Island has progressed since the start and it's really nice to see disability representation on such a popular TV programme. It’s very good that Ron is so open about it and doesn’t shy away from it.
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“It depends on the person, but it shows a lot about Ron and his character that he is willing to accept his disability and openly talk about it. It will give a lot more people in similar situations confidence and encourage people to apply for future series."
David was born with congenital nystagmus - an involuntary movement of the eyes that persists throughout life. His eyesight mainly impacts him later on in the day when his eyes become more fatigued. He said because he was born with his sight loss, he has had to learn to adapt to it and found different coping mechanisms to “hide” the condition.
The disability studies in education graduate is hoping Ron's openness will help society gain more understanding of sight loss after he had to transfer from mainstream school to a specialist school to get the support he needed.
Unlike David, Ron, a 25-year-old from Essex, wasn’t born visually impaired but rather lost sight in one eye as a child after a sporting injury. The financial advisor explained to the other singletons how when he went in for a header in a football match he was kicked in the face.
Ron, who has two different coloured eyes, one blue and the other green, said the injury is a “good conversation starter” and has made him more appreciative of his health. In a pre-villa chat, he added: “It was the result of a football injury when I was eight; It has added to my character, there are so many people that are worse off than me. If anything, losing something like that makes you realise that. It's not hindered me in any shape or form."
Despite this, David said the show still has a long way to go to reflect a true representation of the UK’s society. The baseball player said it would be interesting to see if there were any adaptations made to the villa to make it more accessible for Ron or if he was allowed to tour the villa beforehand to become aware of trip hazards.
He added: “More backstory would be appreciated as you don’t really see Ron making drinks, is this just because of editing or is this because he needs a liquid indicator? This type of stuff I would love to know about and would make a big difference.”
The Liverpool ECHO approached ITV for comment.
Tasha Ghouri made history as the show’s first-ever deaf contestant last year. Tasha, who finished fourth with boyfriend Andrew Le Page, spoke openly about her cochlear implant, which she often referred to as her “superpower”.
The 23-year-old was born deaf and received her implant at age five. Since leaving the show, the model and dancer has been very vocal about her hearing aid on her social media channels - evening having an Instagram account dedicated to raising awareness for the deaf community.
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