Love Island and I’m A Celebrity… top Ofcom complaints list

Love Island has topped the list of shows that received the most audience complaints over the past year, according to regulator Ofcom.

Episodes from the ITV2 show, which aired over the summer, came in first, fourth and seventh place in the list as viewers protested against alleged misogynistic and bullying behaviour by some of the contestants.

Ofcom opted against launching an investigation, saying producers did not portray examples of negative behaviour by participants in a positive light.

“We carefully assessed each and every one of these complaints, and ultimately concluded that the programme did not warrant formal investigation because of how this behaviour was put into context on the programme,” said Ofcom’s director, standards and audience protection Adam Baxter.

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! attracted the second highest number of complaints, with episodes occupying the second and eighth spots on the list as viewers objected to Matt Hancock’s participation in the show.

“Interestingly, an almost identical number of complainants objected to what they saw as negative treatment of him on the show,” said Baxter. “But under our rules, and taking into account freedom of expression, there is no ban on any particular person taking part in programmes.”

ITV’s coverage of the World Cup Final, which took place on Sunday, also made it into the top ten, with viewers complaining about politicised comments made by pundit Gary Neville. 

Over the year, the regulator received 36,543 complaints about over 9,500 issues. This is 79% fewer complaints than last year’s record (173,132), when Good Morning Britain (ITV) topped the list after Piers Morgan made comments about Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.

It was also 56% down on 2020 (83,379), when Britain’s Got Talent (ITV) attracted the most complaints over Diversity’s guest performance about Black Lives Matter.

“Some people may speculate that the impact of the pandemic on our watching habits and on the national mood may be a factor. Others might note that no single programme has sparked the controversy seen in previous years,” said Baxter.