Jada Sezer/Instagram
- Influencer Jada Sezer said she turned down "Love Island" this year because it "can be problematic."
- The body positivity advocate said that she didn't want to be the show's "tokenistic plus-size girl."
- Sezer has nearly 300,000 followers on Instagram, where she posts body positive content.
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Jada Sezer, a plus-size model and influencer from London, said she turned down a spot on "Love Island" this year because she finds the show "can be problematic."
The 31-year-old told Cosmopolitan that she was approached by producers of the show earlier this year. Explaining that she had "actively not been watching" the ITV dating show as well as similar reality shows like 'Too Hot to Handle," Sezer said, "I think they can be problematic. Obviously, it's entertaining and an experiment around human connection […] but when we're seeing six-packs and really, toned slim women, not much color diversity, or shape diversity, then I don't think I should be adding to their viewership, and making it popular."
Sezer said in the interview she was also concerned about the "very limited amount of control" she'd have over how she would be perceived if she were to appear on "Love Island."
"I think I would have become the tokenistic, plus-size girl and there would have been a lot of pressure to basically represent every other plus-size woman's experience," she said. "Or, you know, I might have been attacked by the public – all of those things were something I considered."
Sezer also told Cosmopolitan that upon being approached by producers, the information was leaked before she had even made a decision. She said the "influx of messages and followers" she received from that alone influenced her decision to turn down the opportunity.
"It was like 10,000 followers overnight. And I realized that actually, I don't know if I really want that type of attention," she explained. "With it comes a lot of trolling and I've been able to capture and cultivate a really good community, without having to put myself on a mainstream show. I think that's really precious and I wanted to hold on to that."
On Instagram, Sezer has built a following of nearly 300,000. She is mostly known for posting content showcasing her body in lingerie and swimwear alongside motivational captions about mental health, self-care, and body positivity. She is also an ambassador for UN Women UK and youth mental health charity Young Minds.
The 2021 series of "Love Island" was billed by producers as being the "most diverse" in the show's history, with The Sun reporting earlier this year that ITV had extended applications for the show in order to find contestants of "all shapes and sizes."
However, upon airing, the show faced backlash from viewers on social media for appearing to go back on this pledge of diversity, with several social media users calling out the number of blonde contestants, as reported by Digital Spy.
Insider recently spoke to "Love Island" 2021 contestant Sharon Gaffka about her experience on the show, where she revealed that she "struggled" due to the "lack of diversity" in the cast.
"The producers are meant to match people. With Hugo [Hammond], his type is blonde and there were lots of blonde girls in the villa but whose type was I?" she asked. "It was a struggle at times and I think it made my time in the villa a lot harder to form an actual connection with somebody."
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