Image may contain: Pc, Laptop, Electronics, Computer, Person, People, Human

This Glasgow fourth year is writing her dissertation on Love Island, making yours look rubbish in comparison

It’s all about how much we judge the contestants


Danielle Gardiner, a fourth year student at Glasgow Caledonian University, is writing her dissertation on Love Island, and we're all wishing we'd done the same.

Love Island, the ITV show we all became obsessed with last year, see's contestants couple up, break up, shag a bit, and then argue constantly, all for the chance to win £50,000.

With the show currently scouting applicants, we've all wondered whether we should apply to find the loves of our lives, gain 1 million Insta followers and have the rest of our lives pretty much paid for. But there is always that little something that stops us from going through with it, maybe the fear of being heavy judged by our pals?

Image may contain: Hair, Female, Portrait, Face, Person, People, Human

Danielle is writing her dissertation on audience engagement. We all constantly judge the contestants and think we hold better morals, even the idea of having sex on TV has many of us feeling slightly nauseas.

According to Danielle's research we would never subject ourselves to the high levels of embarrassment and manipulation that the contestants face day in and day out on the show.

But despite hating people like Chris at first, we eventually learn to love them. Danielle noticed that we can also relate to the candidates and notice aspects of ourselves within some of the characters. I mean I definitely love food as much as Montana did.

Image may contain: Woman, Girl, Female, Blonde, Drink, Beverage, Alcohol, Person, People, Human

When asked what her friends thought about her unusual dissertation topic, Danielle said: "There was a lot of mixed opinions on why I was choosing Love Island over everything else. It did surprise people and some thought it was a good idea, just because it was completely different from your average diss topic''.

In terms of reaching the word count, Danielle is quick to point out that having a genuine interest in her topic means she has no problem when it comes to ideas. She says: "You may as well write something you are interested in because you'll be stuck writing about it for months!"

Image may contain: Oven, Microwave, Electrical Device, Appliance, Person, People, Human

Speaking about how she might conclude her findings Danielle seems unsure. She commented: "I have absolutely no idea where it will go. I seem to get a different vision every time I sit down to write it. I need to get all of my ideas down before I can think of a conclusion".

Having asked friends on Facebook to complete a short survey about their thoughts on Love Island, Danielle now has over 350 responses – clearly it's something we're all interested in. And hopefully it won't be too long before we can all get out our judgement hats on again and watch various guys and gals getting 'mugged off'.