{"id":482930,"date":"2026-06-04T15:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/482930\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T15:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:56:10","slug":"exclusive-former-love-island-producer-blasts-shows-lack-of-diversity-casting-for-some-of-its-lowest-ratings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/482930\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Former Love Island producer blasts show’s lack of diversity casting for some of its lowest ratings"},"content":{"rendered":"

A former Love Island producer has slammed the show for Black women being “consistently let down”, and blamed a lack of representation in its casting process.<\/p>\n

Sharing a post on X<\/a> from social media account Super TV, which claims Love Island saw just 600k viewers on ITV2 for its opening show on Monday night \u2013 a fall of almost 50% year on year \u2013, former producer Raf Thompson wrote that the fall in ratings is because of a lack of diversity in casting.<\/p>\n

Raf \u2013 who worked on series 5 to 10 as an editor, before moving on to Love Island USA and Love Island Australia \u2013 said that while he was “incredibly proud to have been part of a show that has become embedded in British culture”, he feels there is a long standing issue with casting.<\/p>\n

“Time and time again, Love Island UK has failed to truly reflect the diversity of modern Britain,” he wrote on X.<\/p>\n

“Representation matters, and no group has been more consistently let down than Black women. Ironically, Black women have been some of the show\u2019s most loyal supporters, driving conversations online, creating viral moments, and helping keep the show culturally relevant.”<\/p>\n

His comments come after Digital Spy reported on the uncomfortable scene when two Black contestants Angelista and Ope were forced to ‘couple up’ with each other<\/a> on the first night to survive after not being chosen.<\/p>\n

Raf blasted the show’s casting process for failing to address the issue, writing: “Year after year, we continue to cast Black women alongside men who openly or implicitly don\u2019t date Black women. <\/p>\n

“The result is a cycle that viewers have watched repeatedly: rejection, exclusion, and disappointment. For young Black girls watching at home, that\u2019s a damaging message. For audiences generally, it\u2019s become predictable and exhausting.<\/p>\n

“When I left after series 10, things were improving. Contestants like Tyrique, Ella, Catherine, Whitney & previous series with Dami, Indiyah, Kai, Sanam, Kaz, Samira, Yewande and others helped create some of the show\u2019s most memorable storylines.”<\/p>\n

\"brunch,<\/p>\n

ITV<\/p>\n

He said working on Love Island USA has shown him how powerful genuine representation can be. <\/p>\n

“Seeing contestants from different racial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds authentically connect created richer stories, stronger characters, and ultimately a bigger audience,” Raf explained.<\/p>\n

“My role on Love Island was in edit producing, not casting, despite my vast experience in casting on other shows I raised concerns about casting throughout my time on the show.”<\/p>\n

He warned: “If Love Island UK wants to reverse its ratings decline, it needs to listen to viewers. Audiences are asking for fresher casting, more authentic representation, and a creative reset. <\/p>\n

“If those changes don\u2019t happen, I genuinely worry about the long-term future of a show that so many of us care deeply about. For the culture.”<\/p>\n

ITV told Digital Spy that more than 60% of their audience watch the show through ITVX and the launch episode is already up to 1.3 million. <\/p>\n

They added: “Love Island’s only stipulation is that applicants are over 18, single and looking for love. Our application and casting process is inclusive to all and we are always aiming to reflect the age and diversity of our audience on the show.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A former Love Island producer has slammed the show for Black women being “consistently let down”, and blamed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[131124,132789,1105,207806,1107,93,61,60,184510,1135,207805,132788,282],"class_list":["post-482930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-collection-love-island","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-42d81239-a252-4425-ab59-7ca66401db7f","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-former-love-island-producer-blasts-shows-lack-of-diversity","tag-subsection-reality-tv","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}