Calling All Middle Aged people – Love island Beckons!
A lot of bad behaviour, misogyny, screaming matches, and tears occur every year on Love Island. We seem to be getting further and further away from #MeToo, as male contestants become harsher and more manipulative.
Ofcom received 3,600 complaints in a single week about the male contestants’ “toxic” behaviour in fact.
As the weeks have gone on, viewing figures for Love Island have increased to their highest level since 2019. Five million people watched the premiere and that number has steadied as the episodes have progressed. Therefore, ITV really has no incentive to make the show more pleasant….or has it?
Mums And Dads To The Rescue
Now ITV is planning a middle-aged Love Island spin-off, which is rather curious. The contestants in ‘Your Mum, My Dad’ will be between the ages of 40 and 60 and according to one insider, will “have a good grasp of their minds” and “be capable of intelligent conversation” – which are “ingredients that regular Love Island sometimes lacks”.
Given the emotional advantages conferred by age and wisdom, this seems like maybe the path to a more interesting or satisfying ‘courtship’ show perhaps. In contrast, contestants on this season are usually just under 24, and many have been criticized as shallow or boring.
So the theory is that middle-aged contestants are likely not only more interesting, but also less nasty to each other – they have had enough experience in life to not lose their cool if they are not “pulled” for a chat by someone they have been dating for a day.
According to The Sun (under the headline “RUMPY PLUMPY”), the middle-aged Love Island contestants will have “normal bodies”.
Many have voiced Sharon Gaffka’s criticism that the show overlooks “midsize and plus size people”; and this makes sense in some ways. Over the past few years, even though many brands have profited from diversification, this season’s models have even more taut and slimmer bodies!
According to the same insider: “Times change, and today’s generation is into fashion, healthy and fit, and ready to let loose.” So maybe in this sense, the new show offers a telling insight into its logic. However, ITV has no interest in filming ugly middle-aged people, just as it has no interest in filming emotionally mature young people.
Those people are at risk of becoming laughing stocks if they do participate. It is likely that young people will probably just laugh at 55-year-olds struggling in a hot tub, no matter how sweet their efforts are.
The Twitterverse will be swamped with new memes about being old and desperate!
However if you’re lucky enough to be labelled as a Milf or Dilf, then becoming a regular on Mail Online’s showbiz sidebar could be worth it, maybe?
