Casa Amor Has Proved There’s Still No Body Diversity On Love Island

Unless you've not had access to the internet over the past 24 hours, you'll know that Casa Amor has returned to Love Island{ =nofollow}. The extra villa, made entirely to wreck relationships and add some awkward and toe-curling drama at a later recouping, is back. Twelve new contestants are in Mallorca, ready and waiting to steal someone's man/woman, with the new men in the main villa, and the men out at Casa Homewrecker (sorry, we mean Amor).

Now, with a load more contestants added in to the mix, we held out a bit of hope that there might be a bit more body diversity - but we were wrong. Because while all the newbies are incredibly good looking - admittedly a requisite for being on the show - all of the men and the women are the same kind of size we are used to seeing on Love Island: small and toned.

Yes, we know it's a TV show meant for incredibly hot people, but size and being attractive are not mutually exclusive - no matter what diet companies want you to think. Continually recruiting people who are conventionally skinny continues to send out the message that being tiny is the only way to look good and turn heads in a bikini or shorts, when that simply isn't true. (As the old saying goes, to have be bikini body ready, simply put on a bikini.)

When Love Island is such a big part of pop culture in this country, it's messaging matters. A show so widely watched can influence younger people, who are still in school or college, that being small is the only way to be: which can lead to low self-esteem (and potential eating disorders) at a crucial time. But of course, you don't have to be as young as that to watch Love Island and still feel shit about your body, or be influenced about the way it should look.

(Of course, body diversity isn't the only thing the show needs to improve on - there needs to be a better representation of races across the UK, as many were noting on social media yesterday how there's hardly any Asian male representation on the show. And as previous contestantYewande Biala suggested, there should be diversity behind the scenes too, with more Black producers hired.)

As body-positive Instagrammer Megan Jayne Crabbe reminded us last week, in a reel which was widely shared{ =nofollow}, most people aren't as small as the Love Island body type. And that's ok. Just because you don't see your body shape reflected on Love Island doesn't mean you're not attractive. 'It may seem like this body type is the norm because it's the only one we ever see celebrated on TV and social media but the majority of people do not look like that,' she said. 'People of all shapes and sizes go on dates, get flirted with, fall in love, and have great sex... every day.'

ITV have previously said in a statement that all contestants on the show have a healthy BMI, and that a certain size is not a requirement for being on the show. 'As a broadcaster, ITV celebrates diversity of every sort across our range of programmes in our schedule and across our channels,' they said. 'In terms of casting for Love Island, the only stipulation to applicants is they must be over 18, single and looking for love. This year’s Love Islanders come from a diverse range of backgrounds with a mix of personalities and have a healthy BMI.'

This isn't an attack on the islanders themselves, and nobody is having a go at them for being slim and having amazing arses. But it would be nice to see someone who looks like they might not know their way around a gym, or look like they might actually eat the burgers advertised in the JustEat advert.

READ MORE: Yewande Biala Asks Love Island To Hire More Black Producers