The much-anticipated new season of Love Island premiered on Monday night, but technical issues with ITV’s online streaming service left thousands of dedicated fans frustrated and unable to watch the show’s opening moments.
Viewers voiced their displeasure on social media after being unable to access ITVX, causing them to miss the beginning of the series. The new season features 10 eager singles entering the famous villa in Mallorca, with a shocking twist revealing the first couples.
Frustrated tweets included: “ITVX now is not the time to be playing up;” “So everyone’s ITVX is doing tomfoolery… ITV have shame actually the worst streaming service available;” “Anyone else’s ITVX down? I need to watch Love Island ffs;” “How can my ITVX just crash nah;” “ITVX get all your affairs in order NOW… there should be no lagging with one thousand ads;” and “Now why is ITVX down when Love Island started four minutes ago.”
After about 20 minutes of issues, ITVX was back online, allowing viewers to catch up with the initial pairings of the series.
Fans were also puzzled upon discovering that new contestant Harriett Blackmore has only been single for four months. The 24-year-old dancer and personal shopper from Brighton joined the show as anticipation built for the eleventh series, which began on June 3.
In her pre-show video, Harriett mentioned she had been single for a very short time. While ITV confirmed she began negotiations about starring on the show after her breakup, many on Twitter questioned if she was still in a relationship when she started her application.
Friends claimed she told an on-off boyfriend she loved him just days before confirming her participation in the show. Some fans noted a potential overlap, writing: “4 months!???? when did she even apply for Love Island;” “4 months single, is that it;” “Doesn’t the process to get on Love Island take longer than 4 months?;” and “Single for four months…how long does the application process take.”
However, one viewer pointed out, “Sometimes Love Island contacts people on their socials and invite them. So they might have only a month to enter the villa.” Former Islander Brett Staniland shared his experience, saying, “Mine was pretty much 4 months from first reaching out to confirming me.”
ITV confirmed Harriett was single during her application process. Friends reported that she told her on-off boyfriend Josh Curling she loved him just days before confirming her participation. The announcement of her joining the show was overshadowed by claims she was still romantically involved with Curling, 25, while ITV prepared to introduce her as one of the 12 new contestants.
The couple ended their three-year relationship in January, during which Curling dated another woman, before reuniting in April. Friends claimed she wanted to inform him about the Love Island opportunity but didn’t know how to bring it up. Harriett reportedly visited Curling’s home as recently as May 24, giving him a scrapbook of photos documenting their relationship and telling him she loved him. However, hours later, she texted him saying, “I need time to focus on myself and what I’m doing.”
A source said, “Josh had suspicions she was going on the show. She was going up to London and saying she was being interviewed for [online retailer] PrettyLittleThing. He asked if she was going on but at the time she said she would never go on Love Island. Josh feels like he’s been led down a garden path. He was in love and during their relationship they were talking about moving out and getting married. They had a good relationship but it fizzled out in January when they started arguing all the time. But they seemed to have been working on getting back to where they were.”
Harriett addressed these claims, telling The Sun, “We kind of broke up out of the blue but we’ve remained in contact and I think we’ll always be friends, there’s no bad blood there. You know the ex-boyfriend’s always going to have a lot to say and even if it’s not the ex-boyfriend, one of his friends… he’s not expecting me to be on TV, so he’s probably got a lot of emotions, he’s probably got a lot of feelings. But I’m just gonna clarify, we’ve had conversations and we remained in contact but yeah, for me, the relationship ended in January.”
Additionally, Harriett has been seen defending an unnamed Premier League footballer accused of allegedly attacking a group of women. In a widely circulated video on social media, she intervenes after the woman filming points at a man and says, “You beat up my friends.” Harriett is seen defending him, saying, “He’s a Premier League football player, so please leave him alone.” As the group of girls responds, “I don’t give a f**k,” she says, “Well I give a f**k, so leave. Just leave.” The woman filming then breaks down in tears, claiming, “He kicked me,” while Harriett continues to defend him, saying, “He’s a Premier League footballer, so leave.”
The footage was uploaded to X, formerly Twitter, hours after Harriett was announced as an Islander, with the caption: “Love Island, do better.”