Vick Hope defends Shipwrecked 2019 after complaints from viewers

Shipwrecked 2019 narrator Vick Hope has defended the show after producers were accused of making life too easy for the contestants.

The classic reality show returned to E4 on Monday after a seven-year break, using its popular ‘Battle of the Islands’ format.

However, while past series forced marooned contestants to build their own shelters, things are very different this time around.

This year’s bunch arrived at the Cook Islands to find camps made up for them – complete with electricity.

The change triggered a backlash from many long-term viewers, who took to Twitter to vent their frustrations.

“The new Shipwrecked has nothing on the original! Why the hell do they have a ready made shelter?” wrote one.

“Now everything is done/built for them, what are they actually going to be doing?” asked another.

Vick Hope, Shipwrecked’s new frontwoman, has now weighed in on the issue – claiming that “people don’t like change”.

“If you change anything that someone loved 10 years ago, you’re going to get a little bit of a reaction,” she told the Radio Times.

“A lot of people were up in arms because they had some electricity and they didn’t make their own house – completely to be expected.

The ex-Strictly Come Dancing contestant continued: “People don’t like change, they don’t like things being what they don’t know.

“Some of the comments were really savage but they didn’t stop watching and that’s what entertainment television is all about.”

Meanwhile, the producers themselves have acknowledged that they made tweaks to try and win new fans.

Writing for Broadcast magazine, Shipwrecked executive Kate Bates said they faced the challenge of “freshening up the format for a new audience for whom reality TV has moved on”.

So far, however, the show has struggled to find much of an audience at all.

Monday’s launch episode attracted just 282,000 viewers, with Tuesday’s instalment pulling just 190,000.

Shipwrecked continues every weeknight at 9.00pm on E4.