Love Island bosses confirm show changes after tragic cast deaths
In the wake of the tragic passings of former Love Island stars Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon, the ITV show have considered their aftercare that they offer the contestants.
Mike, who took part in the 2017 series of the show, was found in a North London park last week, with police confirming he died by suicide aged 26.
Sophie was a contestant in the villa in 2016 and her body was found at her parents home, in June 2018 – she was 32-years-old.
Tributes poured in for the pairs the times of their deaths, with former co-stars calling for a stronger support system to be put in place for when the emerge back into the real world after a summer on the show.
Everyone at ITV2 and Love Island are shocked and saddened by the terrible news about Mike. Our thoughts and condolences are with his family and friends. pic.twitter.com/QYkSTlTRvI
— Love Island (@LoveIsland) March 17, 2019
The show’s producer Richard Cowles wrote to The Metro that, ''When something so awful happens we naturally enter a period of soul searching and ask whether anything could have been done.''
Richard went on to outline the system in place – there's three key stages; pre-filming, filming, and aftercare.
He wrote, ''We work with both an independent GP and a psychological consultant to provide an assessment of the physical and mental health of each of the shortlisted cast members and their suitability for inclusion on the programme. The medical team also contacts each Islander’s GP to check they feel that person is able to take part. We ask for full disclosure from potential cast members to these health professionals so that so that we can support them appropriately.''
He continued, ''Care continues whilst the Islanders are in the villa. We have a medical team on location which includes a psychological consultant. They not only look after Islanders’ healthcare needs, but also monitor them to check that there are no emerging signs of any problems developing whilst they are in the villa.''
However in light of Mike's passing, changed are being put into place.
Richard wrote, ''This review has led us to extend our support processes to offer therapy to all Islanders and not only those that reach out to us. And we will be delivering bespoke training to all future Islanders to include social media and financial management.''
He added, ''The key focus will be for us to no longer be reliant on the islanders asking us for support but for us to proactively check in with them on a regular basis.''
Fellow Love Island stars Jess Shears and Dom Lever are among the stars who have hit out at the ITV show for it's lack of care.
Jess posted on social media that, ''Shows offer you “support” but realistically it’s only while you are in their care. Minute you get home & are no longer making them money it’s out of sight out of mind. There should be ongoing support & also financial advice. Life after these shows isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.''
We hope that with these revisions in place, that future tragedies can be avoided.
