Since being crowned this year's Queen of Love Island, Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu (arguably one of the best contestants of all time) has amassed 2.7 million Instagram followers (and counting) and is fast becoming the next Molly Mae, having signed the biggest fashion deal in Love Island history as the new face of Oh Polly.
With all that influence comes responsibility – and Ekin-Su has clearly been reflecting on her newfound status as an Insta role model. In a short video shared on her Insta Stories, she announced that she was disavowing filters from now on, to set a better example, saying:
'I've decided I'm not going to be using filters anymore – no. I think it's a bad example for all the women out there and young girls. So no more filter.'
Like many influencers (and many of us) Ekin-Su has previously posted selfies which appear to have had a filter applied, but it seems like going forward, she will be posting only un-filtered images of herself.
For years, we've associated a very particular type of aesthetic – dubbed 'Love Island' face – with the contestants from the show: selfies heavily edited or enhanced with filters have just been par for the course, really. This year's season marked something of a turning point, cosmetically speaking, with the filler-fuelled Love Island 'look' making way for something softer and fresher.
To have the show's winner swear off filters is not insignificant. Like it or loathe it, the Islanders past and present, have sway: their faces are seen my millions of people every day, so how they choose to edit those images matter. Various initiatives, like the #filterdrop campaign have highlighted the impact filtered images are having on women's self-esteem.
In the wake of Ekin's decision, perhaps we'll see more Islanders and influencers making the move to ditch the filters? Watch this space.