Love Island bosses have responded to claims that 2019 contestants will have to pass mental health checks before appearing on the show.
The concern over mental health for contestants follows the death of two former Love Island stars, Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon. It was confirmed by police that Mike's death was caused by suicide by hanging, and the inquest into Sophie's death ruled that she took her own life after taking cocaine and alcohol.
In a statement released to Digital Spy on 19th March, ITV said everyone at Love Island was "so shocked and absolutely devastated" by the tragic news of Mike Thalassitis' passing.
ITV has now stated that important care will be offered for the 2019 stars, before, during, and after filming the series, with an ITV spokesperson saying, "Our duty of care is a continuous and ongoing process for each islander. This follows three key stages – pre-filming, filming and aftercare."
ITV reviewed its process for the show in March and, as a result, contestants will now receive financial and social media training as well as mental health counselling after leaving the Love Island villa.
love island couples heat slider
1 of 25Hannah Elizabeth and Jonathan Clark (2015): SPLIT
Remember when they, like, got engaged on the show? That one didn't quite last...
2 of 25Katie Salmon and Adam Maxwell (2016): SPLIT
Adam claimed he was '100 percent single' shortly after leaving the villa and, um, that was that. #Kadam; gone but never forgotten.
3 of 25Gabby Allen and Marcel Somerville (2017): SPLIT
Gabby dumped Marcel after he was spotted cheating as they holidayed TOGETHER. Blimey.
4 of 25Scott Thomas and Kady McDermott (2016): SPLIT
Scott and Kady managed a year before splitting in 2017.
5 of 25Nathan Massey and Cara de da Hoyde (2016): STILL TOGETHER
They've got their little Love Island baby and everything.
6 of 25Jamie Jewitt and Camilla Thurlow (2017): STILL TOGETHER
An absolute success story of Love Island 2017, Jamie and Camilla and Jamie are still the CUTEST of couples.
7 of 25Sam Gowland and Georgia Harrison (2017): SPLIT
Sam seems to be doing alright for himself on Geordie Shore, so we don't think he's too gutted.
8 of 25Olivia Attwood and Chris Hughes (2017): SPLIT
The couple were plagued with cheating rumours throughout their relationship (who can forget that whole Chris Hughes and Katie Price debacle?). Since their ITVBe show Crackin' On ended, Olivia's confirmed she's back with ex-boyfriend Bradley Dack.
9 of 25Malin Andersson and Terry Walsh (2016): SPLIT
He did date fellow Love Island-er Emma-Jane Woodhams eight months in actual real life before calling it a day. AH WELL.
10 of 25Rykard Jenkins and Rachel Fenton (2016): SPLIT
At least they lasted 18 months. Not bad going...
11 of 25Jessica Hayes and Max Morley (2015): SPLIT
Still fancy Max in a huge way, not gonna lie.
12 of 25Alex Bowen and Olivia Buckland (2016): MARRIED
Alex and Olivia are married and literally as strong as ever. We like to live vicariously through them, to be honest.
13 of 25Jordan Ring and Zoe Brown (2015): SPLIT
Absolutely DID NOT work IRL. Neeext.
14 of 25Luis Morrison and Cally Jane Beech (2015): SPLIT
They had the first ever Love Island baby, but things later took a sour turn, with Cally accusing Luis of 'cheating' on her whilst she was pregnant with their daughter. (Oh dear).
15 of 25Tyla Carr and Jonny Mitchell (2017): SPLIT
Oh it was never gonna last, was it?
16 of 25Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies (2017): SPLIT
The Love Island 2017 winners split in December 2017; five months after the finale.
17 of 25Montana Brown and Alex Beattie (2017): SPLIT
These two split just weeks after returning to the UK. Sad times.
18 of 25Dom Lever and Jess Shears (2017): MARRIE
Jess and Dom are so together, in fact, they got 'married' on Good Morning Britain on Valentine's Day 2017. They then got, y'know, properly married.
19 of 25Sam Bird and Georgia Steel: SPLIT
You know how this one went. Sam accused Georgia of cheating on him with her ex, which she denied. It's safe to say they didn't split on the best of terms.
20 of 25Zara McDermott and Adam Collard: SPLIT
Zara and Adam have called it quits. WAH.
21 of 25Megan Barton-Hanson and Wes Nelson: SPLIT
Megan and Wes did move in together, but announced their split in January 2019 following rumours Wes was getting close to Dancing on Ice partner Vanessa Bauer. Uh oh.
22 of 25Josh Denzel and Kaz Crossley: SPLIT
Josh and Kaz announced their split in February 2019, with Kaz saying: "Sometimes things don't go the way you planned, but you have to be grateful for the journey. Thank you for everything especially showing me how to love myself again."
23 of 25Samira Mighty and Frankie Foster: SPLIT
Frankie reportedly cheated on Samira and that was that. Done. Over. thank u, next.
24 of 25Laura Anderson and Paul Knops: SPLIT
There's no bad blood between Laura and Paul, but they split months after making it to the final of the show.
25 of 25Jack Fincham and Dani Dyer: SPLIT
Although they briefly split in 2018, in April 2019, Jack Fincham announced he was no longer in a relationship with Dani, just hours before her book launch. (OUCH).
ITV said in its statement, "This review has led us to extend our support processes to offer therapy to all Islanders and not only those that reach out to us."
They continued in their statement, "And we will be delivering bespoke training to all future Islanders to include social media and financial management. The key focus will be for us to no longer be reliant on the islanders asking us for support but for us to proactively check in with them on a regular basis."
Fans of the show, as well as former contestants, have been asking for Love Island to step up its care for the show's stars after filming, following the shock deaths of Mike Thalassitis and Sophie Gradon, whose boyfriend also committed suicide shortly after her death.
Filming has already began for the 2019 reality series, with Caroline Flack teasing fans on her Instagram.
WATCH: Dani Dyer becomes your an Agony Aunt!
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