Don’t expect to be seeing same-sex couples on Love Island any time soon.
In an appearance at the Edinburgh TV Festival, ITV boss Kevin Lygo ruled out the show featuring gay contestants – for the time being, at least.
He told journalists that producers had yet to find a way to “make it suitable” for the show to feature same-sex relationships.
Lygo said (via Variety): “Love Island is a particular thing, of course, it’s about boys and girls coupling up.
“So if you wanted to do a gay version, or you wanted to widen it, it is discussed and we haven’t yet found a way that would make it suitable for that show.”
He continued: “You talk about Strictly, we had a gay couple on Dancing On Ice before that. We had a blind skater on Dancing On Ice we had a disabled person in I’m A Celebrity last year.
“So I think ITV is already involved in the portrayal of a wide range of people on their shows.”
ITV’s commissioner Amanda Stavri previously said including gay Islanders presented a “logistical difficulty”.
She told the Radio Times: “There’s been quite a few rumours circulating about featuring gay Islanders, so it’s worth touching on that really.
“In terms of gay Islanders, I think the main challenge is regarding the format of Love Island.
“There’s a sort of logistical difficulty, because although Islanders don’t have to be 100 per cent straight, the format must sort of give Islanders an equal choice when coupling up.”
Meanwhile Lygo confirmed that Love Island would be back next year despite reports of falling ratings.
He said: “I think this is a pattern that you see when new programmes come along and they are huge phenomenons. On catch-up it’s… the best performing series ever.”
The latest series of Love Island concludes on Monday night on ITV2.
Millie Court and Liam Reardon were crowned the winners after seven weeks of flirting, coupling and dumping.
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