Love Island refuses to confirm whether it discussed subtitled ‘movie night’ for deaf contestant Tasha

Popular ITV2 dating show Love Island has refused to tell The Limping Chicken whether it considered subtitling its ‘Mad Movies’ challenge for the benefit of its first ever deaf contestant, Tasha Ghouri.

23-year-old Tasha is a model, dancer and cochlear implant user who is currently coupled up with Andrew Le Page, a 27-year-old real estate agent.

However, producers tried to sow doubt between Islanders’ relationships on Friday and Sunday’s episodes, when they were shown a series of videos of their love interests kissing and flirting with other cast members.

Stylised as a movie night with popcorn and a large cinema screen, some viewers questioned why the videos weren’t fully captioned in order for Tasha to understand what was being said, as only quiet discussions came with subtitles.

One Twitter user wrote: “So the producers didn’t even add subtitles to movie night for Tasha? Like where is the support for your islander with a disability?”

“Kinda disappointing that Love Island didn’t even bother putting subtitles on their movie night clips for Tash, in case there was any question over ITV’s performative diversity,” commented another.

A third tweeted: “[Not going to lie] in these clips, to be fair to Tasha they could have added subtitles for her. I want her to have all the info.”

When approached by The Limping Chicken for a statement, a Love Island source declined to comment on whether any access arrangements were discussed for the movie night, and instead said: “The team has worked with Tasha regarding any additional support she needs in the villa.”

It comes a day after Love Island issued a statement on its Instagram Stories – where it is visible for 24 hours – addressing what it described as “social media negativity”.

“We do not tolerate trolling or abuse of any sort and we continue to offer support to the Islanders and their families and friends,” it read.

Sunday also saw a joint statement issued from the families of this year’s contestants in which they stated “hate” directed at their loved ones “has no place on our pages or in society in general” – with Tasha’s family previously pleading with viewers to “avoid making fun of her superpower”.

Photo: ITV.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.