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Love Island 2018 host Caroline Flack defends 'cruel' Dani-Jack twist

The moment has generated more than 600 Ofcom complaints

Jacob Stolworthy
Monday 02 July 2018 08:00 EDT
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Dani learns Jack's ex-girlfriend has joined Love Island

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Love Island host Caroline Flack has defended the twist that saw contestant Dani Dyer learn that boyfriend Jack Fincham's ex has joined the show.

Last week saw the introduction of twelve new contestants, six girls of whom were placed into the Casa Amor villa in which the boys moved to in a big shake-up. The move saw Dani and Georgia - both of whom were happily coupled up - struck with nerves at the thought of their respective partner meeting a new girl entirely.

Unbeknownst to Dani, one of the girls was Jack's ex-girlfriend Ellie whom he'd been messaging days before joining the show. However, last night saw Dani learn of her presence in a compilation of clips taken from the previous three episodes which shows Jack's reaction to seeing her for the first time.

Dani broke down in tears with many viewers slamming the twist as “cruel” - and it's now amassed over 600 complaints to Ofcom.

Speaking on companion discussion show Aftersun following last night's episode, Flack supported producers' decision to show Dani the clip.

"Why did they have to show her that footage?" asked Matt Edmondson to which Flack immediately defended the decision.

"Because have to test relationships - that's what we do," she said.

While true the road to Love Island success shouldn't be easy, the ethics of reducing someone to tears for what is clearly a hook to create talking points seems quite murky.

A spokesperson confirmed to HuffPost that the move will be “assessed against the broadcasting code” and that ITV2 could be investigated if deemed necessary.

While it seems like Dani will be placated by the fact that Jack actually doesn't care that his ex is there, heartbreak seems to be in store for Georgia who will soon learn that Josh has been cosying up with one of the other new additions, 23-year-old makeup artist Kazimir.

Catch up with all of last night's antics here.

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