AS Love Island returned for its 11th series last week, it quickly became apparent the show should be renamed ‘Love Triangle Island’.
Footballers Ronnie and Ayo have proved they’re players on and off the pitch, as the good-looking, 20-something lads have a ball being chased by the stunning Islanders – and it’s an embarrassment.
While Ronnie tries to score with both Jess and Harriett, Ayo has fallen for both Uma and Mimii.
It’s clear both boys have more beauty than brains – and it’s a slap in the face to feminism to see beautiful, intelligent and funny women lowering themselves.
Despite appearing to suggest all his eggs were in Uma’s basket, a shock recoupling meant he shared a bed with Mimii instead – and they locked lips.
Meanwhile Harriett insists Ronnie has been “eye-f***ing her all day” – despite appearing to sway more towards Jess.
He was heard joking with the boys last night: “How am I going to get away with this?”
It concerns me that we’re allowing Love Island’s young female audience to believe this is acceptable behaviour.
Despite the girls realising Ronnie and Ayo are playing them off each other, they continue to go back for more.
I could understand it if the men we were talking about had at least SOME decent chat, but from what we’ve seen so far, there’s a distinct lack of deep and meaningful conversations.
Ronnie appears to just mumble about how “fit” the girls are – and even had the audacity to tell Jess he was “coming close to making a decision”.
That was the line that infuriated me most.
He snapped back at Jess saying he wasn’t going to give her a date and time of when he’d decided to pursue either her or Harriet.
Jess laughed it off, saying “of course not”, as she left him to stew over his predicament.
What she should have said is a four-letter word starting with F followed by “off”.
It worries me that young girls watching at home will be influenced by this sort of behaviour.
Female empowerment has come a long way, but Love Island threatens to set women back.
Girls should know that putting boys on a pedestal and competing to win their affection – despite their actions in the meantime – should not be celebrated.
Nor should we be encouraging the women on Love Island to compete against each other.
Body language expert Darren Stanton told The Sun on behalf of Spin Genie that he believes Harriett is only competing for Ronnie to take down Jess, who she sees as a threat.
“It’s a really strange dynamic between Ronnie and Harriett”, says Darren.
“It’s almost like Ronnie is using her in a way to play games with Jess. But I don’t really think Harriett is that into him as such.
“I get the impression she is into playing games too. For her it’s all about power and control – she sees Jess as a threat to her ego. Harriett is being driven by ego and isn’t as interested in Ronnie as she makes out.
Allowing youngsters to watch this superficial competition play out on-screen sets a terrible example.
Whoever comes out the “winner” in these love triangles is the real loser in my eyes.
