Love Island South Africa slammed for lack of diversity

Yet another international version of Love Island debuted this weekend as Love Island South Africa kicked off. However, many fans were left disappointed by the casting as only one black woman and two black men were included in the ten Islanders who featured in the first episode of the show, despite the face that over 80% of the country’s population are black.

Love Island South Africa criticism

One viewer tweeted:

I don’t ever want to hear 'they cast according to their population…' the percentage of black people in South Africa is 80.2% and there is only two black people in love island South Africa. It’s a choice.

Another remarked:

Y’all are in South Africa but you managed to have a whiter cast than UK love island.

This isn’t the first time that a South African reality TV show has featured casting that fails to represent the country’s population. The Bachelor South Africa has also been criticised for having a predominantly white cast, despite the fact that less than 8% of South Africa’s population are white.

As well as the whitewashed casting, many viewers also expressed disappointment at the sound and editing quality in the first episode of Love Island South Africa, which airs on M-Net. It’s not clear yet whether Love Island South Africa will air in the UK as Love Island Australia has done.

Love Island international versions

Love Island South Africa is the thirteenth international version of the Love Island franchise to be made. It’s also the first African edition of the show, although Love Island Nigeria is also on the way in the not-too-distant future. Other international versions of the show include Love Island France and Love Island USA.