Love Island's Luca Bish defended by top ITV boss after 'gaslighter' allegations
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Love Island All Stars contestant Luca Bish has been defended by the series executive producer after sparking an Ofcom storm during his first appearance in the villa. Luca, 25, is returning for the ITVX spin-off after becoming one of the most talked about islanders on the dating show in 2022. Luca was coupled up with Gemma Owen, the daughter of former England striker Michael, before they split after leaving the villa.
Series 8 was marred with controversy with viewers accusing Luca of ‘gaslighting and toxic behaviour'. The fishmonger was at the centre of an Ofcom storm - with over 3000 complaints from his movie night antics alone. Charity Women’s Aid who said at the time: "A programme based around the formation of romantic relationships must have guidelines on what behaviour is acceptable and unacceptable in those relationships.".
Luca accused Tasha Ghouri, a finalist in this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, of using her boyfriend Andrew Le Page in order to make it to the final, before accusing his own partner Gemma of flirting with male contestants. Despite a then 19-year-old Gemma insisting she hadn’t crossed a line, Luca continued to press her leading viewers to claim he was displaying signs of misogyny.
His place on the line-up for the second All Stars series raised eyebrows among some fans, but executive producer Mike Spence says it’s ‘dangerous’ for fans to jump to assumption and insists his team have a ‘robust’ system of checks in place to keep the islanders following their strict rules of engagement.
