Love Island condemns Chloe Burrows death threats following Shannon Singh elimination

Love Island has condemned the social media posts of some fans as "wholly unacceptable" after contestant Shannon Singh was eliminated from the show.

ITV issued a statement after the family of fellow contestant Chloe Burrows said she had received death threats following Singh's ousting.

In scenes that aired on Wednesday night, Burrows chose to recouple with Aaron Francis, leaving Singh single and soon to be kicked out the villa.

The family of marketing executive Burrows, 25, said they had subsequently seen “hundreds” of messages including death threats posted on social media.

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ITV issued a statement, saying: "We want Love Island to be a positive experience for all of our cast and their friends and family members.

"Last night’s episode created strong reactions but some viewers’ posts were wholly unacceptable.

"We take these matters extremely seriously and will support cast members and their families in reporting such posts.

"We would once again urge all of our viewers to think before posting, and remember that our Islanders are people with feelings."

It comes after a statement from Chloe’s friends and family on the contestant’s Instagram story, which said: "We hate to introduce ourselves under such vile circumstances but we’ve had enough after just 3 episodes.

"We all have thick skin but the amount of trolling Chloe has been receiving is absolutely disgusting.

"This morning we woke up to yet another DM (see next story) encouraging Chloe to kill herself – there have been HUNDREDS."

The statement added: "Have the deaths of Sophie, Mike, and Caroline taught us nothing?"

Former Love Island contestant Sophie Gradon was found dead aged 32 in June 2018, Mike Thalassitis, another former contestant, took his own life in March 2019 aged 26.

Show host Caroline Flack took her own life at the age of 40 last year.

The post continued: "Not only that, but people are flooding her inbox threatening to kill her themselves. People… this is a GAME show, there is a cash prize!

"We understand the frustration surrounding @shannonsinghh’s eviction – we feel it too!

"She didn’t deserve to leave so early but Chloe does not deserve to DIE because Shannon had to leave the villa! She will have had no idea of the repercussions of her decisions prior to making it.

"We are not naive. We know that this post won’t put an end to trolling.

"All the advice we get is to ‘ignore it’ and ‘block the trolls’, sometimes it’s not that easy. Our hope is that this just reminds some of you #BeKind x."

Love Island 2021 returned to our screens in June

Ahead of the return of the series, ITV published duty of care protocols for contestants, who will be offered a minimum of eight therapy sessions on their return home.

Contestants will also receive training on the impact of social media and "how to handle potential negativity", as well as training on financial management.

Among the processes detailed for all contributors on Love Island are "comprehensive psychological support," "detailed conversations on the impact of participation on the show" and a "proactive aftercare package", ITV said.