Caroline Flack has said she is “not a robot” and sympathises with Love Island contestants going through relationship turmoil.
The host of the ITV reality show revealed she has cried while watching the series, and feels the urge to help those suffering heartbreak in the villa.
Love Island is returning to TV screens this summer after coming under increased scrutiny over the show’s aftercare following the deaths of former contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis.
The show has become part of a broader debate around reality TV following the death of a guest who appeared on The Jeremy Kyle Show, now cancelled.
Flack has said that she sympathises with contestants on Love Island, and wishes she could take sides with those struggling in relationships.
She said: “I’m a viewer first, presenter second. But I’m really just a professional viewer.
“I support them, I can’t be a robot when it comes to the show otherwise I wouldn’t be the right person to do it.
“I have to stay impartial but of course if you see someone in there and you feel for them, you want to just go in there and say ‘it’s OK, I’m here on your side’. But I can’t, I have to be professional.”
New contestants on the ITV reality show include Tommy Fury, the brother of former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, and Curtis Pritchard, the brother of Strictly Come Dancing star AJ Pritchard.
The show is returning for a fifth series of its current run and, despite some concerns over post-show welfare, the reality format remains popular.
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Flack said: “The secret behind Love Island’s success is that it’s a really simple show about a really complicated subject.
“No love situation is ever the same, no relationship is ever the same, we are all either in love, out of love, falling in love or falling out of it.
“It’s relatable and that is the thing that is never going to change.”
Flack has said the relationship between Camilla Thurlow and Jonny Mitchell made her tearful, and she related to the pain viewers saw on screen.
The presenter has offered her own advice to the incoming crop of singletons (seven boys and five girls) hoping to follow in the footsteps of last year’s winners Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham.
She said: “Don’t put too much pressure on your relationship, don’t worry about being one step ahead of all of the other couples, don’t jump into moving in together too quickly.
“Once you’re out of the villa, start again, start dating, start taking it slowly, don’t worry about where you are in your relationship, it doesn’t matter. Just enjoy it. There is no point rushing.”
Love Island returns to ITV2 on Monday June 3 at 9pm. Sister show Love Island: Aftersun returns the following Sunday.
