Women’s Aid has spoken up after Love Island contestant Harrison, and others, were slammed by viewers for their petrifying behaviour.
The reality show hosted by Maya Jama has returned for another season of love triangles, shocking betrayals and unexpected sparks, but one contestant, Harrison, has left a bad taste in people’s mouths.
After arriving in the villa, Harrison formed a connection with Toni but when he went over to Casa Amor he struck up a relationship with another woman, Lauren, who he brought back to the main villa.
After being intimate with her not once, but twice, without Toni’s knowledge, it seemed as though he was still stringing her along, leading fans to call his behaviour out.
In the latest episode, Toni decided to recouple with Harrison, a decision which provoked upset from even her mum who took to social media to express her dismay at the decision.
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‘I feel like I just watched my daughter walk out onto train tracks, and there is a bullet train coming right for her,’ she said nearly in tears in a three-minute TikTok video.
Meanwhile, one fan on X, metgirl, wrote: ‘Harrison is genuinely one of the most sickening men ever to be on Love Island.. all he has done is make Toni AND Lauren feel crazy, and he fully enjoys watching them mentally struggle.. sick sick man.’
Another, clivetheunicorn, added: ‘Is Harrison the biggest villain we’ve seen?’
User ao41825 called his behaviour ‘so disgusting’ and Alisha called him ‘evil’.
Other men who have been called out for their behaviour include Harry and Ben, whom Maya herself criticised in the show after comments they made about the women’s sexual history and looks.
In a new statement in response to Harrison and the other men’s behaviour on the show, Women’s Aid -a national charity working to end domestic abuse against women & children – released a statement to The Tab.
‘In recent years, Love Island and other forms of reality TV have been repeatedly called out by viewers for allowing in contestants that had a history of abusive, coercive and manipulative behaviour in previous relationships.
‘As a result, production companies have been more careful when it comes to selecting contestants and calling out toxic behaviours when we see them,’ the statement started.
Communications manager Jess Wyrne added, however, that ‘despite these positive steps, we still see unhealthy patterns of behaviour on these shows, showing just how steeped in misogyny and sexism our society still is.’
She continued: ‘Women are often lied to, slut-shamed and manipulated, as well as laughed at behind their backs.’
Warning of the links between misogyny and sexism leading to ‘tolerance of abuse and violence’ they added this publicly displayed behaviour ‘reinforces a culture that excuses and trivialises violence against women and girls’.
The charity has urged more to be done to ‘educate contestants’ on these issues and praised viewers for calling this toxic behaviour out when they see it.
It is not the first time Women’s Aid has had to step in during a season of Love Island.
In 2022, the charity confirmed it was in talks with ITV regarding duty of care regarding relationships after a series of contestants such as Luca Bish and Dami Hope were called out for how they addressed the women in the villa.
Then, in 2023, Women’s Aid urged Love Island to take the accusations of ‘controlling’ behaviour against former contestant George Fensom seriously after his ex-partners spoke out against him.
Meanwhile, per Glamour, Ofcom has reported over 1,000 complaints against the show in just a two-day period earlier this month, with the majority concerning ‘a combination of alleged bullying and misogynistic behaviour by a number of contestants’.
Love Island airs at 9pm on ITV2 every day except Saturday.
Metro has reached out to ITV for comment.
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