Love Island's Shaughna Phillips says teenage contestants are 'boring'

Love Island star Shaughna Phillips has admitted she finds the show's reliance on young contestants “annoying” and “scary”. She says she's tired of seeing teenagers flirting with people in their late 20s.

The reality show has featured several teenagers in recent years, with the descendants of famous faces often featured from a young age. Dennis Wise's 19-year-old daughter Amber appeared in 2023, while Gemma Owen – also 19 at the time – was a runner-up in the summer of 2022.

Reflecting the views of many fans on social media, Phillips – who starred in the 2020 winter series – told The Sun that she doesn't “want to see a 29-year-old break down with a 19-year-old “. girl”.

“It's scary. I don't like it and I don't want to watch it. Maybe the [minimum age] should be increased to 21,” she said.

“I think they need to diversify and broaden their base a little bit because I'm 30 years old and I don't want to see 19 year olds talking to each other because, to me, they don't have not even lived yet and a 19 year old is still a child.”

Phillips said the show needed to rethink its approach to age and explained how his own experience of being one of the oldest people on his show came as a surprise.

She added: “They need older people, maybe some have kids. But when they're really young, in my opinion it's boring. When I was on Love Island I was 25 years old and I was one of the oldest people, and that's all sad.

In the 2023 series of Love Island, only three of the original 11 islanders were aged 25 or over, with two 21-year-olds in the original cast. The winning couple – Jess Harding and Sammy Root – were both 22 years old.

There has been a growing backlash among viewers over age gap romances on the show, with Ofcom receiving 167 complaints after Gemma Owen kissed Davide Sanclimenti, who is eight years older than 'She.

The show's voiceover artist Iain Stirling addressed the Love Island age gap controversy in an interview on Good Morning Britain to promote the All Stars series earlier this year.

He was full of praise for Hannah Elizabeth, 33, who returned to All Stars after first appearing in the first series of Love Island in 2015.

Stirling said: “33 is pretty young, but it's not when you're in a bikini and trying to chat to 25-year-olds about what they do for a living.”

Love Island 2024 begins on Monday June 3 at 9 p.m., introducing a brand new cast of singles looking for love in Majorca.

Learn more: