Love Island was once a useful glimpse at a world we hardly knew – now it just looks cruel

The show has brought some serious issues to the surface over the past four years, but we’re locked in a cycle of diminishing returns

Yewande Biala and Amy Hart during the challenge earlier this week. (Photo by ITV/REX)

Reality shows are often dismissed as trash TV, and frequently that can be the case. But they also have their merits: journalists and viewers can use them to unearth more serious issues, from the way we talk about mental health to body image and behaviour in relationships.

There are series like Masterchef, Bake Off and The Voice that require skill or at least charisma, with the winners of those contests going onto achieve wider success in business or the arts.

Bringing serious issues to the surface is what Love Island has been doing for the past four years, though not always in the show’s favour. It has been repeatedly criticised – and in this series has so far failed to address – its woeful lack of body diversity. The men are toned and chiselled and just as waxed as the women, many of whom spend an alarming amount of money on cosmetic surgery in order to meet the standards contestants are apparently required to meet.