Love Island episode with 700 complaints cleared by TV watchdog Ofcom

A Love Island episode which sparked more than 700 complaints of alleged sexual harassment will not be investigated by Ofcom, the watchdog has confirmed.

The episode in question, broadcast on 14 June, saw ring girl Maura Higgins repeatedly attempting to kiss boxer Tommy Fury following her “bombshell” arrival into the Love Island villa.

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Coupled with Molly-Mae Hague at the time, Tommy declined her advances, but admitted to some of the male contestants the following day that his head was “torn” between the two women.

Ofcom said it received 726 complaints, with the “vast majority” – 709 – from viewers who alleged Maura had “sexually harassed” Tommy.

Now, the broadcasting watchdog has said it has assessed the complaints, taking into account the context of the situation, and will not be investigating further.

An Ofcom spokeswoman said: “While we recognise that many viewers disapproved of a contestant’s behaviour in this episode, we took into account the context in which it occurred, including the nature of Maura and Tommy’s relationship, before and after.”

The regulator said that all complaints about the episode had been “assessed under generally accepted standards”.

Ofcom is still assessing another episode, showing the fallout from an explosive recoupling, which received almost 200 complaints.

In the episode, which aired last week, contestants Amber Gill and Amy Hart were both left in tears after being dumped by their partners.

Many fans on social media were upset by the scenes involving Amy in particular, with dozens calling for producers to step in to help her.

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The series, now in its fifth year, also received complaints last summer, when more than 2,500 fans contacted Ofcom over an episode involving Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham, who had officially declared themselves boyfriend and girlfriend.

Dani was shown a clip of Jack reacting to his former girlfriend entering Casa Amor – a second villa which sees the original islanders temporarily split up and reintroduced to new contestants.

But producers left out evidence of Jack’s growing loyalty to Dani, the daughter of EastEnders actor Danny Dyer, and she was left in tears.

Fans said it was an unfair misrepresentation, and accused the show of emotional abuse.

A spokeswoman for Love Island said they had no comment about the latest Ofcom ruling.

(c) Sky News 2019: Love Island episode with 700 complaints cleared by TV watchdog Ofcom