Love Island rumoured 'to have first disabled star after approaching influencers with disabilities'

Producers are rumoured to be breaking new ground with the Love Island 2021 line-up, by approaching social media influencers with disabilities.

Love Island has come under fire in the past from some viewers, who have criticised the lack of diversity among the contestants in terms of age, race and body type.

A report by The Sun claims that the Love Island team are "actively approaching for someone who visibly has a disability", with influencer and para athlete Milly Pickles among the names floated.

RadioTimes.com understands that the full Love Island line-up will be confirmed in the near future and that no final decisions have been made just yet.

Previously, ITV commissioner Amanda Stavri spoke to RadioTimes.com about Love Island 2021, promising to encourage "greater inclusivity and diversity" but dashing hopes of LGBTQ+ representation.

"In terms of gay Islanders, I think the main challenge is regarding the format of Love Island," she said. "There’s a sort of logistical difficulty, because although Islanders don’t have to be 100 per cent straight, the format must sort of give [the] Islanders an equal choice when coupling up.

Stavri continued: “With our dating shows, such as The Cabins, there is much more sexual diversity. The formats don’t have as much restrictions as Love Island. So we’re very sort of mindful of that across our programming on ITV and dating series. But that’s the difficulty with Love Island.”

Love Island returns to ITV2 in June. While you're waiting, check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.