Iain Stirling smiling
Iain Stirling has narrated "Love Island UK" in all seven of its seasons.
David M. Benett / Getty Images
  • Iain Stirling told The Guardian that "Love Island" has a constructive effect on social media discussions.
  • Stirling also believes that "Love Island" is a "distraction" to discussions about mental health.
  • Four contestants from this year's show have received death threats in the last month.
  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

The narrator "Love Island," Iain Stirling, spoke to The Guardian about the relationship between social media and the hit UK dating show.

The Guardian reported that the comedian believed that inserting "Love Island" into discussions about online trolling and mental health is "actually just another distraction, we should be looking to where the actual problem is."

Over the last couple of years, "Love Island" has faced criticism of how it treats its contestants after they leave the series. They only changed their aftercare process after the suicides of two previous contestants, Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis.

After the suicide of the original presenter of "Love Island," Caroline Flack, the broadcaster behind "Love Island," ITV, also published a new set of duty of care protocols for contestants, which includes training on the impact of social media and therapy sessions. Flack, Gradon, and Thalassitis all had to deal with negative media attention following their appearance in the series.

Chloe Burrows Love Island
Fans have called out ITV for being hypocrital about asking viewers to show compassion after "Love Island" deliberately manipulated its contestants causing unnecessary mental stress.
ITV

Stirling told The Guardian that he believes the show has a constructive effect. He said: "What Love Island's been great at is making people more aware that people [on social media] are human. You could be Kim Kardashian, you're still a human being, you need to treat other human beings with respect and kindness, and not be awful to people."

However, Stirling also admitted that he sometimes goes on social media to look for negative comments about himself when he's "a little bit sad, and punishing myself for whatever reason."

During this season of "Love Island," multiple contestants have already received death threats. ITV had to issue a statement after the family of Chloe Burrows said they had received multiple death threats. Since then it has been reported that fellow contestants Liam Reardon, Shannon Gaffka, Toby Aromolaran have all received death threats. A contestant from two years ago, Lucie Donelan, said she received multiple death threats during the UK's multiple lockdowns in the last year and had to get the police involved.

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