‘Love Island’ bosses are said to have included a new clause into contestants’ contracts which vows to support Islanders’ families during and after the ITV2 series.
The ITV2 show’s producers are keen to ensure the programme – which has come under criticism for going ahead following the deaths of former contestants Mike Thalassitis, 26, and Sophie Gradon, 32 – is still seen as “positive” show, and have made the addition for the first time as part of their duty of care.
A TV source said:
“They’re taking their duty of care very seriously which is why they’ve written the support for families into the contract for the first time.
“‘Love Island’ is a fun show. They want to keep it positive.”
Islanders will also have mental health checks and there will be a psychologist on call at all hours of the day.
The source told The Sun newspaper:
“They’ve put in measures to ensure all contestants have enough mental health checks and have a psychologist on call 24 hours a day.”
This comes after some fans questioned why the dating programme is still going ahead after ITV axed ‘The Jeremy Kyle Show’ this week after 14 years following the death of a participant.
Earlier this month, it was revealed ‘Love Island’ contestants will have to pass new mental health and STI tests to be accepted on this year’s series.
A source said:
“Bosses want stars to be safe mentally and physically. Their biggest nightmare would be someone contracting an STI, so potential contestants must have several rounds of medical tests.
“Advance sessions with counsellors and psychologists have been ramped up to ensure that everyone can handle the fame.”
Following Mike’s passing, Richard Cowles, creative director of ITV Studios, admitted contestants on the ITV2 dating show will receive more support and ITV will be “proactively checking in” with former ‘Love Island’ stars “on a regular basis”.
He wrote:
“When something so awful happens we naturally enter a period of soul searching and ask whether anything could have been done. This review has led us to extend our support processes to offer therapy to all Islanders and not only those that reach out to us. And we will be delivering bespoke training to all future Islanders to include social media and financial management. The key focus will be for us to no longer be reliant on the Islanders asking us for support but for us to proactively check in with them on a regular basis … We work with an independent GP and a psychological consultant to provide an assessment of the physical and mental health of each of the shortlisted cast members and their suitability for inclusion.”
