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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Dominique Hines

Love Island bosses ‘blocked multiple sex abusers trying to join the show’ - report

Love Island caught 50 people trying to join the villa who had cases of sexual misconduct against them.

While assessing castmates suitability for the show, it was found that dozens of applicants were perpetrators of sexual abuse and harassment.

A casting source told The Sun: “If there are any troublesome discoveries they’re straight out.

"There were at least 50 examples this year.”

The vetting process includes social media sweeps and checking criminal records.

Also, put in place after bullying accusations last year against a number of the boys ­including Luca Bish, 23, and Dami Hope, 26, are physical and mental health assessments.

The reintroduction of contestant Adam Collard, 26, last year was also condemned by Women’s Aid because of what they regarded to be his “coercive” behaviour towards female contestants during his  first stint in the villa in 2018.

There’s now also training in what language is acceptable when discussing disability, sexuality, race and ethnicity.

The source added: “The public probably isn’t aware how thorough the background checks on all of the contestants are to find out as much as we can about them.

Haris Namani left this year’s show after being exposed for punching a reveller ((©ITV))

“We’ve never had a #MeToo horror pop up because we won’t move forward with a potential contestant if we find something unsettling about their history along those lines.

They continued: “We have ramped up all the checks even more as part of the promise to do more to protect our Islanders.

“It also sets a clear standard that certain behaviours will not be accepted or ignored if they happen.”

On this year’s winter series, semi-pro boxer Haris Namani, 21, left the villa after being exposed for previously punching a reveller.

Casting for this summer’s series has commenced.

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