Love Island 2022: why is Adam Collard’s return dividing opinion - and how does it compare to other TV complaints?

ITV’s decision to bring back former Love Island contestant Adam Collard has divided opinion, as the reality TV star has previously been accused of gaslighting.

Drama in shows such as Love Island and Big Brother can keep audiences on their toes, but viewers have shown they aren’t afraid to complain when they think things have gone too far.

From racism to nudity, there are a range of reasons that can cause viewers to tweet concern or contact Ofcom.

With Adam Collard set to enter the Love Island villa, domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid is leading the debate in questioning ITV’s decision.

Who is Adam Collard?

Adam, who first appeared on Love Island in 2018, is a personal trainer from Newcastle.

The 26-year-old gained a reputation for mistreating women during his first stint on the show and Women’s Aid spoke out about his behaviour, calling it ‘gaslighting.’

Adam’s treatment of Rosie Williams included questioning her memory, blaming her and ignoring her feelings.

He dramatically dumped Rosie and paired up with Zara McDermott.

The pair had an eight month relationship after leaving the villa, with Zara claiming she was “heartbroken” when things came to an end.

Adam entered the Love Island villa again on Sunday (10 July), making him the first ever islander to make a comeback.

Adam has said that he wants to ruffle feathers during his stay at the villa, which could mean more controversies.

What has Women’s Aid said about Adam’s return?

Teresa Parker, who is head of media relations and communications at Women’s Aid, voiced concern, saying: “In the 2018 series of Love Island, we saw Rosie rightly call out Adam for his unacceptable behaviour, which included gaslighting and emotional abuse.

“We hope that ITV recognise how serious this issue is and that it must be learned from, considering they have asked Adam to return to the show.

“Producers must make sure there is support for contestants throughout, and intervene if relationships become unhealthy or abusive.”

The most complained about TV moments of all time in the UK

With controversies on the mind, here are the nine most complained about TV moments.

Jade Goody and Shipla Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother

In 2007, Ofcom received 44,500 complaints about a fight between Jade and Shipla.

The fight led to racist language being used by Goody who told her housemate that she needed to spend “a day in the slum.”

Goody also referred to Shipla as “Princess” or “the Indian’ as she could not pronounce her name correctly.

Rhianna and Christina Aguilera’s X-Factor performance

In 2010 the duo performed together on an episode of the reality singing competition but it received 2,868 complaints for being “too explicit.”

Aguilera wore a low-cut dress and her dancers were dressed in lingerie.

Rihanna caused a commotion as she wore a bra on stage before the watershed.

Bullying in Big Brother

The show is no stranger to controversy but in 2015 they received 2,024 complaints for bullying alone.

Drama began when Helen Wood and Marc O’Neil described fellow housemate Brian Belo as looking “like a murderer and a rapist.”

These comments led to Brian leaving the house and branding Helen and Marc as “bullies.”

Ofcom did not open a formal investigation into the matter.

Roxanne Pallet on Big Brother 2018

Big Brother ran on TV for 17 years but one of its biggest scandals surrounded Emmerdale actress Roxanna Pallett.

The show received 25,327 complaints after Roxanne falsely claimed that Ryan Thomas had assaulted her.

She called him a “woman beater” but after reflection she admitted she had been wrong.

Kim Woodburn on Loose Women

After Kim appeared on Loose Women in 2018 there were 8,000 complaints to Ofcom.

Viewers felt that Kim had been ganged up on by the Loose Women panel.

Kim stormed off the show and said that the show was “trash.”

Love Island 2018

This season of Love Island attracted 2,644 complaints from viewers during the eight weeks it ran on TV.

The main source of annoyance was Dani Dyer’s emotional response to her partner Jack Fincham who she believed was going to cheat on her.

Piers Morgan’s comments on Meghan Marke

In 2021 Piers Morgan was complained about 57,121 times.

Morgan commented on the now famous interview between Meghan Markle and Oprah Winfrey, in which the former opened up about her mental health.

The then-Good Morning Britain host shared his negative view on the Duchess of Sussex and said he did not believe her claims.

The Ofcom complaints led to Piers stepping down from GMB the very same day.

Love Island 2021

Once again the show was criticised for misleading contestants - this time 5,000 people complained to Ofcom after contestant Faye Winter was led to believe her partner Teddy Soares had been kissing another woman.

The couple led to a further 24,763 complaints, after Teddy returned from the infamous Casa Amor challenge.

Faye was shown a clip of Teddy telling another woman that he was attracted to her which led to Faye shouting and screaming at him.