Viewers are calling out Iain Stirling for ‘unnecessary joke’ on Love Island 2023

Love Island narrator Iain Stirling has left viewers unimpressed after his ‘Nigerian prince’ joke during last night’s episode. The comedian attempted to make light of Mal asking Sammy if he had ever been stung by a bee and it did not go down well.

As Iain narrated the scene, he makes a reference to fraud, something viewers have dubbed as “off” and “unnecessary”.

“Mal wants to know if Sammy has ever been stung. Well, there was that one time when he gave his bank account details to a Nigerian prince who claimed to have won the lottery,” Iain said in his voiceover.

Viewers were quick to express their annoyance with the comment on social media.

“Was that Nigerian prince joke necessary?” one viewer wrote, with another adding: “Disappointed in the Nigerian prince ‘joke’ by Iain Stirling tonight. Not funny.”

People continued to share their dismay for the joke, with one viewer writing on social media: “That Nigerian prince joke was so off because it’s a joke that only ever really landed in the US, and is literally from the 2003 pixelated internet era. Give it a rest!”

The “joke” derives from a lazy stereotype that a person thought to be of Nigerian royalty would promise you “millions of dollars in exchange for a few thousand dollars” and end up scamming you.

Poet Stella Inabo said the originally “harmless joke” can form an “unconscious bias” amongst people.

Love Island 2023 is on ITV2 and ITVX. For all the latest Love Island news and gossip and for the best memes and quizzes, like The Holy Church of Love Island on Facebook. 

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Featured image credit via Instagram @iaindoesjokes.