In 2023, Love Island Australia introduced “Consent Heart” buttons next to each bed that Islanders must press before getting intimate.
When it comes to dating shows (and real life), consent is a super important topic. As a result, Love Island has introduced an extra measure to ensure cast members feel safe at all times.
ITV Studios Australia’s Executive Producer Alex Mavroidakis has explained the importance behind these new buttons.
“We are a show where people sleep in the same bed together. Once the sheets are pulled over, you can’t see what’s going on underneath,” he told TV Tonight. “So we’ve created an Australian-only invention called the Consent Heart.”
“On the bedside, everyone has a small button,” he explained. “When the bedroom is dark, if you push that button, your side of the heart will light up but only in infrared. It’s not seen in the bedroom.”
“Only if both buttons are pushed and if the heart is complete in infrared, are you allowed to kiss, touch and do everything with each other.” And we think every bedroom needs a Consent Heart!
Love Island Australia also had consent lights in Season Four.
Love Island producers will intervene if Islanders aren’t using their Consent Hearts
Alex then explained what would happen if Islanders got intimate without using their Consent Hearts.
“If anyone starts kissing or touching each other in bed, producers will physically walk into the bedroom and tell them to switch their Consent Heart on,” he said.
“Only at that point are they both consenting adults and we leave them alone.”
Alex went on to say that the production team were super “red hot” on consent.
“Any intimacy whatsoever must be mutual consent,” he stressed. And we love to hear it!
Sociology lecturer highlights the potential dangers of Love Island’s consent hearts
However, Dr Erin Carlisle, a sociology lecturer at the University of Wollongong, told Yahoo Lifestyle that while these buttons are a “positive step,” Islanders should also have the option to withdraw their consent.
“Sexual consent is, and must be, enthusiastic, ongoing, unequivocal, equal, and conditional,” Dr Carlisle said.
“The ‘yes’ isn’t a blanket, all-or-nothing statement. People must be able to change their mind and withdraw their consent.”
Fans also shared a similar opinion on social media.
“This is so dangerous. Anyone can withdraw consent at any time,” one user wrote.
“A step in the right direction. But ideally, consent, boundaries, and desires are openly and candidly communicated between people instead of being signified through pressing a button,” another agreed.
Dr Carlisle added that the show’s premise of “coupling up” to win a cash prize may “create a context where contestants may feel pressure to ‘couple up’ or remain ‘coupled up’ with someone they do not feel entirely safe or comfortable with.”
Sociology lecturer questions who the consent buttons are really protecting
Dr Carlisle then explained that she thought the consent buttons were more to protect the producers than the contestants.
“A suggestion was made that the ‘consent buttons’ were introduced in an effort to create a safer environment for contestants. For me, this appears foremost as an effort on the part of producers and the network to put the responsibility for safety onto the contestants themselves to mitigate the risk of liability,” she said.
“What else are producers doing to ensure safety and, more importantly, to prevent sexual abuse? For example, are they implementing other initiatives during casting – such as screening for adherence to violence-supportive attitudes, mandating completion of consent training and other primary prevention initiatives – to ensure all contestants are, in fact, safe and respectful of their partners, from the very beginning?”
Want even more goss? Listen to the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto below!
Know something that we don’t? Spill the tea here!
Get the tea first! Follow So Dramatic! on Instagram and tune in on Mondays to get your reality tea fix with the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto.
