A look at Love Island's most controversial moments (2024)

Love Island has been embroiled in a bullying row, with fans claiming Jess White should be axed from the villa following her 'nasty' comments towards Harriett Blackmore.

Over the last few weeks, rivals Jess and Harriett locked horns ever since they were involved in a love triangle with Ronnie Fint.

But as Harriett won over Ronnie, Jess has had a bitter attitude towards her ever since.

In Wednesday night's episode, fans spotted Jess in stitches of laughter when Harriett cried her eyes out over Ciaran Davies' muggy comments.

As the tension rumbles on, MailOnline takes a look back at other shocking moments from the show's previous eight seasons.

Arch rivals Harriett Blackmore and Jess White

Love Island viewers have branded Jess a 'bully' and called for her to 'leave the villa' as she continued to make 'nasty' comments to Harriett.

Thursday's episode kicked off with an explosive start as Harriett stormed off crying after an argument withCiaran following a game of, Never Have I Ever.

Soon after Harriett had gone inside the villa, Jess made a number of sly comments as she said: 'If you give it, you've got to be able to take it. I'm sorry but it's alright when she said it to him'.

The brunette beauty then raised her glass into the air looking at the rest of the islanders sat around the firepit and added: 'Cheers to good people, good people.'

The villa was then left in silence as everyone ignored Jess's toast and quickly changed to subject.

As the islanders got ready for bed, Harriett confronted Jess in the girls dressing room and asked: 'Why do you have to make everyone feel sh*t!'

Jess replied: 'It was a game, your an idiot'.

The next morning Jess had a chat with Nicole and admitted she 'can't be a***d' with Harriett anymore as she is treated like a 'princess'.

She said: 'Don't give it out if you can't take it. I've tried my best to be nice to her and I can't be a***d with her. People p**** foot around her because she acts like some princess.'

ITV2 viewers were quick to take to X - formerly known as Twitter - to call for Jess to be removed from the villa.

'Pls get jess out this is becoming hard to watch like this is bullying', 'Jess is a nasty piece of work'.

Zara Holland loses her Miss GB title

Beauty queen Zara Holland quit the show in season two shortly after learning she'd been stripped of her Miss Great Britain title.

Producers told Zara that pageant bosses had watched her romp with Alex Bowen and said she was no longer the 'positive role model' they wanted.

According to Miss GB executives, the beauty queen was strictly forbidden from having sex on air when they gave her permission to appear on the risque ITV2 show.

Zara admitted that she'd got swept up in the moment with Alex and regretted the incident, saying: 'You know when you're in the moment and it just happens. That's really not like me at all. Why couldn't we have just gone to sleep?'

She was told about losing her title in the villa and while she was devastated she decided to stay on the show.

However, days later Zara learnt that her mother had fallen ill and decided to leave the villa to be by her side, much to the upset of her fellow Islanders.

Amy Hart's Casa Amor turmoil

While season five is often hailed as one of the best Love Island seasons, viewers were left disturbed by Amy Hart's treatment in the villa.

Theflight attendant had never been in love or had a boyfriend before entering the villa, but thought her luck had changed when she met professional dancer Curtis Pritchard.

Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be and Amy was left in tears claiming she had 'no future' after 'half-boyfriend' Curtis admitted his head had been turned by new girl Jourdan Riane during his fleeting visit to Casa Amor.

Fans raised concerns for Amy's mental health after she broke down in tears following the dancer's betrayal in devastating scenes, with the dramatic recoupling sparking 314 Ofcom complaints.

Amy was latertaken off set and offered psychological support after viewers urged producers to step in amid her heartbreak over Curtis' wandering eye.

A spokesman for the hit ITV2 show said psychological support was on-hand for any of the Islanders at any time 24/7, particularly if they were upset or appeared to be struggling with life in the villa.

Amy later quit the show and is now expecting her first child with boyfriend Sam Rason.

News Splash Challenge causes heartbreak for Paige Turley and Siânnise Fudge

Love Island's first winter series received 377 Ofcom complaints after one of its pivotal games forced two contestants into uncomfortable confrontations with their respective partners.

Viewers tuned in as the season six Islanders took part in the News Splash Challenge, which saw the group given partial tabloid headlines about each other before guessing who they are referring to.

But many accused the show of intentionally baiting the Islanders after one headline suggested Finley Tapp had been tempted to stray during a short stay in Casa Amor, prompting inevitable outrage from villa girlfriend Paige Turley.

Luke Trotman also found himself in hot water after a private revelation about girlfriend Siânnise Fudge came back to haunt him during the challenge.

In an earlier chat with the lads he admitted she stripped off during their night in the Hideaway, and the brunette was left stunned after the moment was served up in another bombshell headline.

Despite the turmoil, Paige forgave Finn and the couple went on to win the series, while Siânnise and Luke also made amends, finishing in second place.

Sherif Lanre is removed over c*** punt controversy

Viewers were left in the dark during season five when Sherif Lanre was asked to leave the villa with immediate effect after 'breaking the rules'.

His exit was not shown and was glossed over by Love Island bosses but Sherif later revealed he was removed for accidentally kicking Molly-Mae Hague in the groin during a play fight and referring to it as a 'c*** punt'.

Sherif claimed that the following morning he was interrogated over the incident by producers who then sent him home without a chance to say goodbye or pack his bags.'

He later accused the show of 'unconscious' racial bias and double standards - something ITV has staunchly denied - claiming the the women 'groped' him with no repercussions.

Sherif said: 'I'm not going to point fingers... but the airtime [black people received] was disproportionate to our value in the villa.

'Statistically we get less air time. I know [the producers] have a duty to edit and give the viewers what they want. But I think the race thing is more to do with the people in charge finding people who want to be with people of colour.'

Jacques O'Neill walks out to protect his mental health

Jacques O'Neill's emotional exit in season eight saw both the rugby star and his fellow islanders in floods of tears.

He had been struggling in the villa and admitted he 'no longer felt like himself' following the arrival of bombshell Adam Collard and his rocky romance with love interest Paige Thorne.

While Jacques was praised for his candid discussions about mental health he also faced backlash for allegedly bullying deaf Islander Tasha Ghouri and he later declared that going on Love Island was the worst decision of his life.

He said of his time on the show: 'It broke me and I was already broken. I was crying my eyes out. I couldn't cope. I was literally feeling awful. It was the worst I'd ever felt in my life.'

Jacques' family revealed during his time in the villa that he had been diagnosed with ADHD at the age of nine and sometimes struggled to deal with emotional situations.

He stopped taking his Ritalin medication seven years ago and did not expect the condition to cause problems during his time on the show, despite bosses' concerns.

Malia Arkian is removed after villa brawl

In season two Malia Arkian was the first Islander to ever be thrown off the show after she was part of the most violent moment in Love Island history.

She was removed from the villa after just one day following a 'physical altercation' with Kady McDermott, with Kady later claiming she'd been punched in the face.

Shocked viewers watched on as Malia confronted Kady for spilling a drink on her, with things quickly escalating.

Malia denied the claims and recently stated that she hit rock bottom after leaving and is 'embarrassed' to watch the footage back.

Yet it's clear there's no love lost between the pair, with Malia branding Kady a 'compulsive liar who needs professional help.'

Kady has reportedly been lined up for a Love Island all-stars spin off and will no doubt be hoping for a smoother ride this time around.

Laura Anderson's 'fake' love triangle

Prompting 632 complaints was the 'emotional abuse' of Laura Anderson during season four after she was leftfeeling betrayed and confused when she was told her friend Georgia Steel kissed her partner Jack Fowler.

Jack admitted that Georgia had instigated the kiss, while Georgia vehemently denied it, leading to multiple arguments, all with Laura caught in the middle.

The emotional turmoil followed on from another upsetting incident that saw Laura dumped by Wes Nelsonduring the first few weeks, after he decided he preferred Megan Barton Hanson.

Kissgate worsened when host Caroline Flack oversaw a VAR breakdown of the kiss on Aftersun, only for viewers to point outcontinuity errors in the playback of the kiss from different angles.

Georgia later admitted the kiss was filmed more than once but she was quick to defend the ITV2 show, pointing out: 'It is a TV programme, things have to get filmed in different angles to get put on television, that’s how television works.

'But, nothing is fake, nothing is said that is staged, it’s all to do with how you feel.'

Malin Andersson confronts 'muggy' Terry Walsh

An Islander was allowed to return to the show for the first time in season two, with Malin Andersson coming back to give partner Terry Walsh a piece of her mind.

Malin had been voted out of the villa by the public but Terry opted to stay, vowing to remain faithful.

But just days later his head was turned by Emma-Jane Woodham, with the couple making no attempt to hide their new romance.

The pair quickly became inseparable - even having sex in front of their fellow Islanders while they cheered them on.

After watching the scenes unfurl at home, Malin took to Twitter to share: 'So I'm single... I'll let you all know how I feel tomorrow and my version on things. Heads gonna explode.'

She thenjetted back to Spain and confronted Terry in a shocking showdown where she branded him muggy and a game player.

Maura Higgins hits out at Tom Walker

Maura Higgins was hailed season five's feminist icon by fans after she took down Tom Walker for making misogynistic comments about her.

The couple had been due to spend the night in the Hideaway until Maura overheard Tom saying it would be interesting to see if she was 'all mouth' in the bedroom.

Less than impressed with the conversation, a furious Maura rescinded her offer to spend the night together, telling Tom she 'wanted a gentleman, not a lad'.

She later explained to the girls: 'I'm not going to let anyone talk about me like a piece of garbage. He's trying to be a lad out there in front of all the boys. I don't want a lad, I want a gentleman. Someone who is going to talk about me with a bit of respect.'

Anton Danyluk attempted to diffuse the situation by saying 'I think you've got the wrong end of that chat'

The pair were unable to see eye to eye after the row, with Maura later coupling up with Curtis Prichard and finishing in fourth place in the final.

Faye Winter loses it with Teddy Soares

Faye was also at the centre of Love Island's most complained about moment ever when she lost her temper and launched into an expletive-filled row with Teddy.

A whopping 24,763 viewers took to the media watchdog to express their upset during the Movie Night challenge episode, where a clip showed Teddy telling fellow contestant Clarisse Juliette that he was 'sexually attracted' to her.

Faye's rant - branded 'horrendous', 'abusive', and 'gaslighting' by fans of the show- resulted in the most expletive-ridden episode ever, with reports that contestants swore 125 times, while Faye is said to have said 'f**k' 57 times.

It wasn't just Teddy in the firing line, as Faye was also quick to shut down Matthew Macnabb when he protested against her fiery behaviour, telling him: 'Keep your mouth shut like you normally do.'

As well as complaining to Ofcom, viewers also called on producers to remove Faye from the villa.

Faye later said she was embarrassed by the row and refuses to watch it back but she has apologised to Teddy and the pair are still happily together.

Laura Whitmore's 'sexist' Aftersun comments

Love Island host Laura Whitmore was at the centre of 427 complaints from viewers when she was accused of'slu*t-shaming' season eight's Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and treating Jacques O'Neill 'cruelly' in his interview.

During an episode of Aftersun Laura discussedGeorge Tasker's flirtations with Ekin-Su in Casa Amor - after Ekin-Su denied she had been intimate with him.

Laura said: 'Once again Ekin-Su swore that nothing happened with George and it seems Davide doesn't believe her' before laughing.

Panellist Darren Harriott then said: 'She said her head never turned but I think her hand might have turned, and possibly wrist.'

Instead of shutting down the comments, some viewers were disappointed to see Laura continuing the conversation, with fans arguing that the guests were 'slu*t shaming' Ekin-Su and passing it off as 'banter', and Laura received criticism for 'encouraging' the comments.

The handling of Jacques - who had openly spoken about quitting the series to protect his mental health - on the show was also criticised after he was shown videos of his ex-partner paramedic Paige Thorne kissing personal trainer Adam Collard after his departure.

Some called the interview with Jacques 'cruel', saying that forcing him to watch clips of Paige and Adam was dangerous for his mental health after the ex-Islander said he had not been able to watch the show.

A spokesperson for Love Island defended Laura, while her representativetold MailOnline: 'Laura's job as the presenter of Aftersun is to ask questions relating to what is happening in the main show.

'This is all that Laura has done on this occasion and suggesting otherwise is simply unfair and false.'

Laura has since quit the show and her replacement Maya Jama has gone down a storm with fans.

Maura Higgins' 'predatory' advances towards Tommy Fury

Maura Higgins was accused of 'sexually harassing' Tommy Fury in season five when she attempted to kiss him in uncomfortable scenes.

Viewers saw Irish grid girl Maura, who was then a newcomer to the villa on the ITV2 series, fix her sights on boxer Tommy, who had been coupled-up with Molly-Mae Hague.

Whilst Tommy dodged her attempts at seduction, the undeterred model later climbed on top of him, attempted to kiss him and asked if she 'turned him on.'

Despite the hundreds of complaints Ofcom decided not to investigate, with a spokeswoman saying: 'We took into account the context in which it occurred, including the nature of Maura and Tommy's relationship, before and after.'

Tommy declined Maura's advances and went on to finish in second place with Molly and the pair are now expecting their first child together.

Maura has remained close with the pair, often referring to Molly as her 'best friend.'

Snog, Marry, Pie and misogyny

One of the most controversial moments in season eight came during the Snog, Marry Pie challenge,where Islanders were tasked with selecting one person to kiss, one to 'propose' to and one to have a custard pie thrown in their face.

The challenge appears on the show each year and while it's meant to be playful in tone, viewers accused the boys of 'going too far' this time and 'misogyny and bullying'.

Tasha Ghouri, who was coupled up with Andrew Le Page, had three pies thrown in her face, by Davide Sanclimenti, Dami Hope and Luca Bish after they had accused her of not having good intentions towards Andrew - leaving Tasha in tears.

Luca and Dami had received harsh criticism from viewers for the way they have treated Tasha in the days leading up to the challenge and later apologised for their comments.

Elsewhere in the challenge, Dami chose to kiss his Casa Amor ex Summer Botwe to the shock of his partner Indiyah Pollack.

Billy Brown also came under fire when he ignored partner Danica Taylor and choseto snog Gemma Owen, who he has previously been accused of flirting with, and marry Paige Thorne, labelling his actions 'banter.'

Misogynistic movie night

Thousands of viewers complained about instances of misogyny and bullying throughout season eight but the Movie Night challengewracked up a whopping 2,648 in just one episode.

The annual challenge seesboth the girls and boys watch clips of their partners' antics during their time in Casa Amor.

Tasha was one of the main targets during both Movie Night and the dares game after Luca and Dami repeatedly criticised her behaviour during her relationship with Andrew.

Viewers also expressed concern for Luca's treatment of his love interest Gemma Owen as he had a heated outburst after watching a clip of Gemma supposedly flirting with fellow islander Billy.

As footage was shownof Ekin-Su in bed with George during Casa Amor, her partner Davide branded Ekin-Su a liar when she claimed 'nothing happened.'

Viewers hit out at the boys for clubbing together and cheering whentheir Casa Amor antics were shown but lashing out at the girls for their clips.

Dani Dyer's postcard meltdown

Dani Dyer was inconsolable after season four's Casa Amor twist when the girls were given a video postcard showing what their partners were getting up to in the other villa.

Viewers blasted the'cruel' decision to show Dani a clip of her boyfriend Jack Fincham coming face to face with his ex girlfriend Ellie Jones, implying there was something unsavory afoot.

Making things crueler, Jack had barely spoken to Ellie, remaining loyal to Dani throughout.

Despite2,525 viewers complaining, hostCaroline Flack justified the producers' actions by saying the point of the show is to 'test relationships.'

Although Ofcom didn't investigate they confirmed that it broke records at the time for thehighest number of complaints about a single issue in Love Island history.

Jack and Dani went on to win the show but ended up going their separateways nine months later.

Faye Wynter is led astray by a postcard

Despite the backlash over Dani's reaction to a Casa Amor postcard, the producers decided to repeat the trick during season seven prompting4,330 complaints.

Viewers blasted show bosses for sending a postcard from Casa Amor that was 'misleading and caused unnecessary distress'.

One of the images on the postcard showed Teddy Soares kissing Clarisse Julietteduring a challenge - causing his partner Faye Winter to panic and recouple with new boy Sam Jackson.

But the kiss took place during a game of truth or dare, and Teddy had actually remained faithful to Faye throughout his time in Casa Amor, joining Jake Cornish – who was with Liberty Poole as the only official couple in the villa – on the day bed outside every night.

Teddy was then left single after Faye opted to recouple with Sam, explaining:'Once I received the postcard, the girl I'd been working so hard on was just closed off again.'

Teddy admitted he was 'disappointed' in Faye's decision, but had followed his 'heart' in coming back to the main villa alone.