Love Island’s Most Controversial Contestants and Moments Through the Years

Both the U.K. and U.S. Love Island shows have had their fair share of controversies over the years.

On Love Island U.K. season 2 in 2016, Malia Arkian became the first contestant to ever be thrown out of the villa for getting in a physical altercation with castmate Kady McDermott.

“Security removed me after an altercation with Kady. I met with the producers, where we watched the footage back and there was a report conducted,” Arkian told Closer in a June 2024 interview. “I then went to a hotel with my chaperone, where I stayed for 24 hours, with no contact with anyone. I was distraught and devastated. I was terrified about what people would be thinking.”

Eventually, ITV told her she “wouldn’t be let back” and Arkian was sent back to the U.K.

“I was trolled relentlessly, and people threw drinks at me on nights out,” she shared with the outlet. “After one hour of being on TV, I got a reputation as an aggressive and violent person — which just isn’t me at all. I was depressed and didn’t want to leave the house.”

Nearly a decade later, Love Island USA season 7 contestant Yulissa Escobar was forced to leave the show after podcast clips of her using racial slurs circulated online.

Keep scrolling to learn more about more controversial moments throughout Love Island history:

U.K. Season 2: Zara Holland Stripped of Miss GB Title

Zara Holland Mark Robert Milan/GC Images

Holland was stripped of her Miss Great Britain title after having sex with castmate Alex Bowen.

“We pride ourselves on promoting the positivity of pageants in modern society and this includes the promotion of a strong, positive female role model in our winners,” Miss Great Britain organizers shared in a statement to the Guardian in June 2016. “The feedback we have received from pageant insiders and members of the general public is such that we cannot promote Zara as a positive role model moving forward. We wholly understand that everyone makes mistakes, but Zara, as an ambassador for Miss Great Britain, simply did not uphold the responsibility expected of the title.”

The organization later clarified their decision on X, noting that they have “no problem at all with sex,” but “can’t condone what happened on national TV.”

Holland, for her part, did not agree with the decision and defended herself, saying she did “nothing wrong.”

“All women have needs,” she told The Sun in June 2016. “There is nothing wrong with having sex on TV. I knew what I was signing up for — it is Love Island. I am a 20-year-old girl who was in the moment. There are lots of girls my age who go out every week and do that — mine was just on national TV. I didn’t feel pressured in any way, I am standing up to it. I haven’t committed a crime, so why should I have my title taken from me? It’s horrific.”

U.K. Season 2: Malia Arkian Forced to Leave After Altercation

Arkian had to leave the show in 2016 following a fight with McDermott. The former contestant later told Closer in June 2024 that she was “trolled relentlessly” when she got back home.

U.K. Season 4: Zara McDermott’s Personal Images Were Leaked

Zara McDermott Jo Hale/Redferns

While in the villa in 2018, McDermott’s nude photos of her had leaked online and gone viral. She did not find out about the photos until she left the show. (McDermott has previously experienced revenge porn when she was 14 while being badly bullied at school.)

“I’d just gone through the biggest experience of my life. I just wanted to be able to live in the moment and enjoy my new life for a little bit and instead being reminded of actually how awful the world can be sometimes,” she shared in a February 2021 interview with Grazia Daily. “Not only did I have to deal with coming out — I can’t even explain how you have to get used to the trolling and online hate and abuse — that’s one huge thing that you need to get used to.”

McDermott said the online hate “coupled up with the revenge porn” could “break a person.”

“It really can,” she added.

U.K. Season 5: Sherif Lanre Sent Home After Kicking Girl in Crotch and Making Insensitive Joke

In 2019, Lanre was sent home after accidentally kicking Molly-Mae Hauge in her crotch during a play fight and making an insensitive joke about it after. Following his exit, ITV issued a statement on behalf of Lanre.

“In a case of poor judgement, I broke the villa rules and as a result agreed with the producers that it was best for me to leave the villa,” the message read.

U.K. Season 6: Ollie Williams Accused of Being a ‘Trophy Hunter’

Ollie Williams Courtesy of Ollie Williams/Instagram

While on season 6 of the show in 2020, photographs obtained by The Sun began circling online, showing Williams posing with dead animals. The pictures caused people to create a petition to remove him from the series. Although he ended up quitting the show, claiming he had feelings for an ex, many viewers thought his departure was because of the online complaints.

“Having left the Love Island house, I have become aware of the press stories circulating in the UK,” Williams shared with The Mirror following his departure. “I would like to make a number of comments on the various claims and accusations. I did not shoot any of the animals shown in the photographs nor have I ever shot as a trophy hunter.”

Williams noted that he volunteered for a conservation program in Mozambique and had “no knowledge of the stories” until he left the show.

“My reasons for leaving Love Island are as communicated on the show,” he added.

U.K. Season 7: Faye Winter Has Meltdown at Teddy Soares

During a 2021 episode, Winter lost her temper at fellow contestant Soares after footage was released of him admitting he was attracted to Clarisse Juliette. Winter was very hurt and started screaming at Teddy, resulting in the most expletive-filled rant the show had ever seen, according to viewers.

“I came out at the time and I had no idea that obviously it had blown up to the point it had. I was really embarrassed — and still to this day, ‘Why didn’t you let people know you really hurt Faye?’” she shared on Paul C. Brunson’s “We Need to Talk” podcast in March 2025. “I’ve never given anyone a reason for why it happened and I didn’t want people to think that I was copping out. I’m going to own it, and if that’s the end of my career in TV, that’s fine.”

U.S. Season 2: Johnny Middlebrooks Made Out With Mercades Schell While Coupled Up With Another Girl

Johnny Middlebrooks Robert Voets / ©CBS / Courtesy Everett Collection

Middlebrooks caused some controversy after he kissed Schell multiple times despite being in a relationship with Cely Vazquez.

Following Schell’s elimination, she told Entertainment Tonight in a September 2020 interview that Middlebrooks is “super fake.”

“He’s only in it for the game. He’s super fake. I will be expecting him in my DMs,” she shared with the outlet.

Middlebrooks and Vazquez ended up staying together for the duration of the show until they eventually split in June 2022.

Former Contestants Call Out Lack of Body Diversity

Prior to a new season of Love Island UK, some cast members called out the show’s lack of body diversity.

Malin Andersson, who starred on season 2, took to social media to share a throwback photo of her from the show in a gold swimsuit, noting that the pressure to “look” the same way as “everyone else does” is never healthy.

“As Love Island approachers our screens tonight (with lack of diversity might I add once again) — I invite you to take a deep breath and [think about] what the show actually entails,” Andersson wrote via Instagram in June 2021. “[There’s] pressure to look and feel the same way everyone else does. When I say this, I speak from a place of insecurity [that] I once had and pain.”

Despite comments from some cast members, ITV told Cosmopolitan in June 2021 that they “celebrate diversity of every sort across our range of programmes in our schedule and across our channels.”

“In terms of casting for Love Island, the only stipulation to applicants is they must be over 18, single and looking for love,” the statement read. “This year’s Love Islanders come from a diverse range of backgrounds with a mix of personalities and have a healthy BMI.”

U.S. Season 7: Yulissa Escobar Removed After Racist Comments Resurface

Yulissa Escobar Courtesy of Yulissa Escobar/Instagram

Escobar stirred controversy when she was added to the cast after TMZ posted footage of her using the n-word several times during podcast appearances.

While several fans left messages on Escobar’s Instagram asking to vote her off the island, she ended up leaving the show during a June 2025 episode. Nearly 20 minutes in to the Peacock series, narrator Iain Stirling announced that Escobar left the villa.