ITV boss defends Love Island after Ofcom complaints about bullying and says ‘uncomfortable moments’ are ‘informative’
ITV boss Kevin Lygo has warned that the only way to make risk-free versions of shows like Love Island would be to scrap them altogether.
He defended the ITV2 dating contest against criticism of misogynistic behaviour on this year’s series claiming its duty of care process was "more rigorous than ever."
But Kevin warned that preventing on-screen controversies on reality TV shows would mean barring members of the public that they rely on.
Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival, he said: "We are moving into a different era here and we have to be very mindful that there is a certain risk to going on television.
"It may not be exactly what you think it's going to be as a member of the public, but I don't think we should stop, because the logical conclusion is: 'you don't allow members of the public on telly'. That's the only way."
He also argued that some scenes which could be seen as inappropriate or uncomfortable could also help educate young people.
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Kevin said: "When you see the attitudes of young people and what they say, you could say some of the things that go on in these shows shouldn't be shown.
"But from that comes the debate, the discussion and it's pointed out to contestants themselves and they often later apologise for the error of their ways.
“For example, there was research about why young boys watch Love Island so much. It found they'd never witnessed girls together talking about boys and they found it absolutely fascinating and, hopefully, informative to the fact that muscles aren't everything."
He admitted mistakes had been made in the past but claimed the measures put in place by bosses of Love Island were more thorough than at any point in the history of television.
Kevin added: "If you look back only a few years even the term duty of care was hardly used - now it's on everybody's lips all the time.
"Broadcasters are now very well informed and impose conditions on commissions that duty of care is uppermost in producers in minds.
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"It's come on in leaps and bounds. It got its wake up call a few years ago, and now members of the public who are on shows, especially shows that are on for quite a while, are taking through rigorous controls of this is what it's going to be like.
"Their GPs are contacted, psychologist are involved beforehand. During the show there's access to psychologists and counsellors all the time, and producers are much more skilled in this as well.
"Then afterwards there's care for those who've come off television."
Kevin also said that Love Island had countered the idea that people don't come together at the same time to watch television anymore, and that was part of the reason why they were bringing back Big Brother - because it was "event telly".
