The bleak reason Love Island died with season 10

Love Island is back for its 13th season on ITV, having just kicked off for another year. But as soon as the show started, the general conversation turned to how Love Island died a long time ago. It’s never getting back to its previous heights.

The first episode was backed as having a major “shake up” with ITV saying in a press release that it would be something “for the first time in Love Island history.” It was… that the show was taking place at night. Quickly, people have claimed Love Island is in its “flop era”.

And it’s not just claims. The 2026 series has had the worst ratings of the show’s history. Just 600k tuned into the launch episode. The Traitors finale had 9million viewers, by the way.

The turning point for Love Island was season 10. Cast your mind back. It’s 2023, the sun’s out. We have Messy Mitch on the telly every night. Ella and Tyrique are all over the place. Molly Marsh is about to get dumped by Kady McDermott. We’re all rooting for Catherine and Scott. This was the last time we had a cast of true diversity, and twists that actually felt big, and new.

Love Island UK died after S10. Why? bc they refuse to cast diversity w depth but rather token POC as a checkbox to meet their diversity quota. They don’t make an intention to hire men who are open to dating women of *any* racial background, resulting in the isolation of WOC/BWOC! https://t.co/FmIw0VSm9U pic.twitter.com/Gdc5ykqU1y

— Cici (@419err) June 2, 2026

On tweet said it perfectly. “Love Island UK died after s10. Why? Bc they refuse to cast diversity with depth but rather token POC as a checkbox to meet their diversity quota,” they said. “They don’t make an intention to hire men who are open to dating women of *any* racial background, resulting in the isolation of WOC/BWOC!”

On Reddit, someone else added: “Season 10 was actually the last time we got spoiled in terms of production and everything. Like the way that season had both Ne-Yo and Rita Ora in one season. And the way Ne-Yo sent the girls to Casa was legendary gold, could never be topped.

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“The producers actually ate with that one. Nonetheless, the cast was so diverse. Plus it’s also the last season where they incorporated the magical final dates. I don’t think that would ever return on Love Island UK.”

A further TikTok explained more. “Love Island season 10 has to be the most memorable,” the creator captioned the video. In it, he said: “I’m yet to find a better season. I don’t think I’ll listen to anyone who tells me there’s a better season than season 10. If anyone mentions season five, I won’t have it. Season 10 had it all.”

@tempzz00

The pilot episode gave me a lot of boost, just from Tyrique’s and Ella’s first interaction, I knew the season would bang🔥😂😂 #loveisland #loveislanduk #uktiktok #uktiktok🇬🇧uk #fyp

♬ original sound – Music and animations 🎵🟦🟥

He went on to list the reasons why. And it’s hard to argue with any points. The cast was on point, Casa Amor was as chaotic as ever, and the show really went above and beyond with dumpings. Now, it feels as though every dumping comes with a side of producer involvement.

ITV will always say this isn’t the case, but it does always feel as though the dumpings are swayed towards who producers *think* we want to stay and go. I’m not saying the votes are rigged, they’re not, just the nature of the dumpings mean certain Islanders are always at risk more than others. Season 10, mind you? The dumpings were pure. Chaotic.

Let’s just not talk about who won season 10 of Love Island. It was over at that point.

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