Dr Alex George speaks out on diversity on Love Island this year

Love Island alumna and mental health advocate Dr Alex George has said he hopes we’ll see ‘better diversity’ in the cast of Love Island 2021. The hit reality show has been heavily criticised for being unrepresentative of the British public and there have been reports that the channel is looking to cast the ‘most diverse cast ever’.

Dr Alex on Love Island diversity

During a chat with Susannah Constantine, Dr Alex revealed:

I actually sit on a board now, a mental health advisory board for ITV and a lot of the thoughts now moving forward are how can we promote a better wellbeing, not just the people on the show but the people watching it.

He continued:

TV, reality TV, can have an impact on people's mental health but it can do it in positive way as well. If we think about it and we consider these things when making these shows, consider who you're putting on there: 'Are they prepared for that. What messages are we giving to people? Are we representing the body image, the diversity that we have in the UK on screen?' Those kind of things.

Dr. Alex isn’t the first former Islander to call on ITV’s casting team to make more diverse choices. Earlier this month, India Reynolds called out the ‘huge misrepresentation of women’s bodies’ on the show which led to her being labelled as ‘curvy’ despite only being a size 10.

Love Island 2021 cast

The Love Island 2021 line-up is yet to be confirmed, with bosses expected to remain tight-lipped over who’s heading into the villa right up until filming. However, a number of rumoured Islanders have been leaked, including boxer Harley Benn, junior doctor Toluwa Adepeju and aerial dancer Alexis Bailey.