Chubb goes on to explain in her video that contestants disclose all their prescribed medications to producers as well. Once you’re in the villa, producers will take all your meds (she said they were allowed to keep medicine such as Tylenol and their birth control on them to take on their own) and oversee distributing them daily at the scheduled time.
Peacock Production tells Vogue that each participant is briefed on the potential downsides should they be cast on the show, such as possible negative social media and press and having little to no access to electronics. The team adds that contestants will have an initial check-in with their psychologist at the beginning and then see them on a weekly basis for a check-in, but that the psychologist is on-call whenever a contestant needs them.
But many past contestants have expressed that more is needed from the psych team. Caro Vie Lacad, a contestant on season 1 of the series, took to her YouTube channel to talk about how Love Island could do more to support their mental health. While Lacad acknowledged that the psychologists on set were available at all times, she felt that the counseling was superficial at best. “It wasn’t anything digging deep,” she says. “[It] felt like I was just talking to another producer.” Leah Kateb, a contestant on season 6, has been vocal about her struggles inside the villa. In an interview on the podcast Call Her Daddy, Kateb said she thought about leaving at various times throughout her stay in fear of how her behavior was being perceived by the public, and had to see the on-set psychologist three times a day.
Mental health has become a main topic of discussion for the show—and reality TV in general— over the past couple of years, highlighting the darker side of reality TV. In 2020, Refinery29 reported that 28 former reality TV stars have died by suicide. Love Island‘s UK version has been hit particularly hard, with three cast members, contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis, as well as the former host Caroline Flack, taking their own lives.
There’s an offboarding process for anybody leaving The Villa, Production shares, which includes two meetings with their psychologist before going home. Those islanders will also have many other resources available to them, including psych follow-ups at least once a month for up to six months and guidance on how to navigate social media post-show. But as for what changes to these mental health guidelines will be made for the next season, that remains to be determined. (Production could not comment on what new plans are in place to better curb the online discourse.) For now, fans are urged to follow the multiple public service announcements against bullying, like the ones made by host Ariana Maddix and guest star Megan Thee Stallion, to keep the online comments kind.
“The keyword in Love Island is… Love,” read the PSA shown on the episode aired on June 24. “We love our fans. We love our fans. We love our Islanders. We don’t love cyberbullying, harassment, or hate.”