Ofcom receives more than 300 complaints from Love Island viewers over treatment of Lucie Donlan
Lucie broke down in tears after falling out with her partner Joe Garratt and the other girls in the villa
Ofcom has received over 300 complaints from Love Island viewers linked to the treatment of Lucie Donlan by her fellow contestants.
The broadcasting regulator told RadioTimes.com that it had received 302 complaints since Friday 14th June based on interactions between Lucie and her fellow Islanders on the ITV2 reality series.
They added, “We will assess these complaints against our broadcasting rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate.”
The 21-year-old surfer broke down in tears during an episode airing on Sunday 16th June and was left isolated from the other Islanders after partner Joe Garratt, 22, said she was spending “too much time” with close friend Tommy Fury.
The sandwich man from south London told Lucie that she should be spending more time with the other girls in the villa, dubbing her friendship with Tommy “strange”.
He then expressed “doubts” over his relationship with Lucie, telling fellow Islander Molly-Mae Hague that he felt that Lucie “wasn’t the person he met” when he first entered the series.
Joe’s conversation with Lucie saw her break down in tears and sit alone on the balcony, eventually being comforted by Maura Higgins.
Viewers on Twitter were quick to label Joe as “controlling” and “possessive.”
Joe’s comments came after Lucie was criticised by Amy Hart for not spending enough time with the girls of the group, saying she felt the pair had drifted apart.
While it appeared the two had settled their differences on the episode airing on Friday 14th June, things looked rocky once more after Sunday’s Bridezilla challenge saw a food fight between the girls go awry – with Amy feeling she’d been deliberately targeted by Lucie.
Ofcom also told RadioTimes.com that Maura’s advances on Tommy during Friday night’s episode (14th June) drew a further 486 complaints from viewers.
They added that in total, since Friday’s episode, they had received a total of 794 complaints about Love Island.
During the 2018 series, the regulator said it had received 2,500 complaints in the two days after contestant Dani Dyer was shown a misleading video of boyfriend Jack Fincham. The pair were separated into different villas and the footage pictured his shock as ex-girlfriend Ellie Jones arrived as one of five newcomers.
The show also received complaints in 2017 related to the contestants' smoking. In 2018, it was announced that Love Island would bring in a smoking ban, with islanders instead gathering in an off-screen area for cigarette breaks.
Love Island continues weeknights and Sundays at 9pm on ITV2
