Love Island cleared by Ofcom over complaints about Maura Higgins

Love Island has been cleared by TV watchdog Ofcom after a number of viewer complaints.

The telly regulator was sent a number of objections following the episodes last month.

Almost 500 of the complaints concerned Maura Higgins’ flirting display with Tommy Fury during an episode on June 17.

After getting involved in a love triangle with Maura and Molly-Mae Hague, Tommy decided to sleep on the sofas to avoid causing any more drama.

But viewers watched on as Maura tried to persuade him to give her a kiss in front of Molly-Mae.

Many called for Maura to be removed over the ‘uncomfortable’ footage.

One wrote on Twitter: “On a serious note though. Imagine Maura and Tommy being in reverse roles there. A lad literally cornering a girl and forcing himself on top of her and kissing all over her face after she said no. He’d have been booted out. ??‍♀️ #loveisland”

Another shared: “Petition for Maura to get kicked out? Role reversal and the whole country would be kicking off. Completely inappropriate #LoveIsland”

And added a third online: “sorry but if a guy acted like maura they’d get done for it and kicked off the show #LoveIsland”

However Ofcom ruled that the scenes did not breach “generally accepted standards”.

They explained to BBC News: “While we recognise that many viewers disapproved of a contestant’s behaviour in this episode, we took into account the context in which it occurred, including the nature of Maura and Tommy’s relationship, before and after.”

However the watchdog is still investigating other complaints.

A further 302 objections came in relation to Lucie Donlan following her clashes with both Amy Hart and Joe Garratt. All three have now left the villa.

In one episode, Joe was unhappy at Lucie apparently spending ‘too much time’ with fellow Islander Tommy Fury.

But those watching weren’t sure what Lucie had done wrong.

Speaking on Love Island spin-off After Sun, Caroline Flack reacted to Joe’s outburst: “Is he weird? What is Joe actually angry about?”

And on Twitter, former Love Island winner Amber Davies commented: “Joe can you please just like Lucie for LUCIE and not who you want her to be. Thank you x”

Lucie also found herself clashing with the other girls in rows with Amy, with viewers left feeling sorry for Lucie.

Last year’s Love Island winner Dani Dyer spoke out on Twitter: “Just wanna give Lucie a cuddle they need to chill out leave the girl alone.”

Love Island continues nightly on ITV2 at 9PM.