A study has figured out which of the Love Islander contestants have fake Instagram followers, and the answer is ALL of them. But who has the most?
Amber Gill apparently has 535,000 followers on Instagram, which will surely increase when she leaves the Spanish villa, but she may want to ditch some of the fake ones.
Data analysis carried out by Instagram influencer marketing service Takumi allege that the Geordie had the highest percentage of fake followers when she entered the villa.
Herself and new boy Jordan Hames both had 65 percent fake followers, which is pretty damn dodgy if you ask us.
The recently axed Islander Joe Garratt (412,000 followers) and Yewande Biala (365,000) both had 64 percent fake followers, and Michael Griffiths (478,000) had 63 percent.
Maura Higgins had the lowest number, but almost half of her 322,000 followers aren't real. Takumi’s CEO Adam Williams made a statement on the results:
"The results of our research show the extent to which fraudulent activity can take place on Instagram. Yet influencers are still powerful marketing tools due to their ability to resonate deeply with their core audiences."
"Brands must carefully consider who they work with and how they assess their worth. The scale of someone’s social media following doesn’t necessarily equate to real influence among consumers."
In order of who had the most followers, the list was;
Amber Rose Gill, Jordan Hames, Joe Garratt, Yewande Biala, Michael Griffiths, Callum McLeon, Tommy Fury, Danny Williams, Amy Hart, Lucie Donlan, Anna Vakili, Molly-Mae Hague, Anton Danyluk, Curtis Pritchard, Tom Walker and Maura Higgins.
Molly-Mae has barely been in the villa five minutes but is already causing her fair share of tension among the girls and the boys alike.
Yewande deserves her shot at love, and when she was sent on a date with new Love Island-er Danny Williams, she came back positively glowing. GLOWING.
Despite the fact that Molly already has Tommy and Anton fighting it out to win her heart/other body part, she turned her attention firmly towards Danny when he walked in the door.
Yewande has failed to find romance on the show so far, after being coupled with the gorgeous Scouser Michael Griffiths, but Danny invited both her and Amber on a date last night and Yewande's seemed to go better.
Our excitement almost got out of hand when the pair kept making prolonged eye contact, but all was foiled the second Molly turned her attention towards him. "He's so my type," she says.
(Bear in mind, she has said this many times…) Irish Twitter were having absolutely NONE of her, though, and are backing up Yewande.
“Tall boys are just a thing for me,” Molly said. Talking about her flirtationship with Tommy Fury, she said: “I just feel like he is in ‘Tommy Land’ and I’m trying to get my way into it.
“Maybe I need to get into ‘Danny Land’?” Yewande was upset about Molly-Mae's comments, although she did insist that Danny isn't hers to have and to hold.
“She says he’s her type,” Yewande said. “Everyone is her f****** type.” Those science kitty claws are coming out, and we don't blame her. Molly is seriously trampling on girl code.
Yewande: I usually like someone who is thoughtful, intellectual, is good fun and who is kind to others.
They don't seem to mind stepping on each others toes, but Molly-Mae has already pissed off Amy when she asked for a date with Curtis so she CAN'T BE TRUSTED:
#loveisland
Mollie mae: I don’t want to step on Yewande’s toes
Who is the latest sh*t-stirring good-looking person to be chucked inside the Love Island villa? Danny Williams, that's who. He's already starting a love triangle.
The 21-year-old is a model from Hull, and is exceptionally confident. No surprises there.
In a teaser which aired at the end of Friday's episode, Danny said:
"I would describe myself as a happy-go-lucky guy. I think I'm funny, I can be, but definitely someone who's ambitious and knows what they want."
He added; "I don't think I fall in love easily because I think I have high standards. I think the right girl for me would be ambitious, independent and have loads of fun as well."
Danny's Instagram describes him as a 'fashion model", with a bio saying, "Work hard, be nice." He's really transforming the world of philosophy there, isn't he.
Williams has chosen to go on a date with both Amber and Yewande, which will go ahead in tonight's episode. Drama is to be expected, but we suspect he'll suit Amber more. They both have that ego thing going on…
Danny joins Amber Gill, Anna Vakili, Amy Hart, Anton Danyluk, Joe Garratt, Molly-Mae Hague, Tommy Fury, Curtis Pritchard, Lucie Donlan, Sherif Lanre, Michael Griffiths and Yewande Biala in the Spanish villa.
The first dumping of the series happened on Friday, with Callum Macleod getting eliminated from Love Island first. He later shared that he had a bit of a crush on Yewande, which was some spicy goss.
The hit ITV2 show continues nightly on Virgin Media 2 at 9pm. Will Danny choose Amber or Yewande to be his lady? Time will tell.
We've all noticed Love Island's resident Irish contestant Yewande NEVER being on screen. Literally never. The jacuzzi gets more air-time.
It seems the show's viewers have also seen the annoying pattern, and are hitting out at the ITV2 dating show for failing to give Callum, Michael and Yewande their due time on screen.
Those involved in all the drama and love triangles such as Lucie, Joe and Tommy are bound to be seen more, and 24 hours of footage has to be snipped down, but still.
Viewers claimed that Yewande, among other islanders, were being purposefully left out from the episodes, and host Caroline Flack tried to explain the reasoning behind this,
She felt it was more because of the show's main moments, and who has feelings for a fellow islander. Yewande has fancies Curtis, but that's about it. Plus he's a taken man.
On Love Island: Aftersun, Flack said; “We haven’t really seen enough of Yewande yet have we, but is it purely because she just hasn’t fancied anyone…”
AJ Odudu was a guest on the panel, and confessed that she believes Yewande has self-esteem issues and isn't ready to take on romance as of yet.
“I think Yewande has self-esteem issues, I really do, I feel like she’s her biggest barrier in there," she said.
Viewers and the entire panel are hoping that she'll find love in the form of new islander; Danny Williams.
The newbie will take Yewande and Amber out on a date tonight, stay tuned to see what happens. Judging by his massive ego, we think he's a better match for Amber though…damn it…
Love Island is back on our screens for the next eight weeks, but there are more than a few issues which need to be addressed.
We're talking racism, we're talking homophobia, we're talking ablism, we're talking sexism, we're talking class, we're talking body diversity…the whole can of worms.
Each of these topics deserve to be tackled individually, no doubt. Bear in mind during this article that, as a Caucasian woman, I cannot speak for the experiences of other ethnicities and it's incredibly important to listen to their personal stories rather than another white woman's take on their livelihoods.
In this article, it's time to talk about the racial bias in the infamous reality television show, which sees Islanders couple up in the hopes of winning the £50,000 cash prize. Does everyone have a fair chance, though?
I only just noticed this..
Series 2 – Malin was picked last…
Series 3 – Marcel was picked last…
Series 4 – Samira was picked last….
Series 5 – Yewande was picked last..
qWHITE interesting that #LoveIsland
One tweet in particular did the rounds last night and is currently on 37,000 likes and 5.7 thousand reweets for the point it made about former contestants-of-colour.
From Malin and Marcel in series two and three, to Samira in the fourth season, and now Yewande in the latest episode: People-of-colour are always chosen last for the coupling.
These statistics are troubling when we hear how much racial abuse has been sent to Yewande Biala, the Irish candidate who works in cancer research as a scientist.
“Irish accent doesn’t suit her”…I just read about Yewande. Some people with access to app are THICK AS SH*T. She IS Irish, why oh why I wonder doesn’t her accent “suit her” according to this dummy #LoveIsland
Members of the public are literally questioning her nationality despite the fact she has an Irish accent and refers to herself as Irish, and trolls persistently send abuse her way online.
Former Love Island contestant Samira Mighty has now expressed her fear that Yewande will experience the same micro-aggressions and racism as what she was subjected to last season.
She ultimately failed to find love on the show, with the male contestants evidently not finding her attractive. She left the show after a failed coupling with Frankie Foster, but is now speaking out.
Yewande Biala (left) and Samira Mighty (right)
"I feel like there has been so many comparisons between the two of us," she told Metro.co.uk. "The only thing that is similar – it’s not even the colour of our skin – it’s that she is a shade of brown.
"I was trending on Twitter when the line-up came out because of the comparisons. I’m different from her. I’m a theatrical person and she’s a scientist. I think our personalities are different. You can even see it in the first introduction video."
23-year-old Yewande is of Nigerian descent, and has faced criticism online for her choice of men and even her preference for wearing a wig instead of a weave. The standards aren't the same for Caucasian contestants.
Samira also expressed frustration about the pressure for people-of-colour in the villa to choose each other as a couple, such as Sherif and Yewande:
"If Sherif does pick her, people are going to say “Oh okay, there is a black couple” and then it’s going to be cliche. It’s just weird. Everyone chill out. It’s now 2019, we should be able to do whatever we want."
Another ex-Islander, Marcel Somerville, has bemoaned the racial bias in the show after the contestants coupled up, and Yewande was picked last.
This is mad!!!! #LoveIsland flash backs! Black guy, black girl and mixed race guy all left unpicked. Mad!!!
"Love Island flashbacks," he tweeted. "Black guy, black girl and mixed race guy all left unpicked. Mad!!!" the former Blazin' Squad member wrote,
None of the female contestants stepped forward to indicate their attraction to him back in 2017 while he was in the competition.
This year, newbies Yewande Biala, Sherif Lanre and Michael Griffiths were all sidelined during the first episode, with Scottish contestant Anton Danyluk causing trouble already.
Before the start of this year's series, fans of the show asked ITV to remove Danyluk after an image of him wearing blackface makeup was discovered from six years ago.
Somerville explained the deeply offensive nature of blackface on his Instagram story, explaining that it "invokes a racist and painful history". Blackface only conceals racism, and yet ITV allowed him to stay on the show.
Last year, Samira was the first woman-of-colour to take part in the show's history, and only one man out of sixteen in the villa were interested in her. A gorgeous West End performer, who boys aren't attracted to? What?
In Samira's time in the villa, Megan Barton-Hanson (the blonde and slim contestant) was referred to as “everyone's type on paper”. It seems that Lucie Donlon, the blonde, slim surfer model, is this year's Megan.
Anton and Joe are already vying to win the heart of the 21-year-old, with Anton seeking to ditch Amy (another slim, blonde contestant) who he's been paired up with presumably very soon.
Is it just micro-aggressions, or are narrow-minded Eurocentric ideas of beauty unavoidable in this show?
Sorry Caroline, the show could stand to have some more diversity. It’s hard for slim, white, straight people to relate to this sometimes. I understand that. You can’t begin to understand erasure because you’re constantly represented. The show would be even better with diversity. https://t.co/pXgZZJr3om
From a huge lack of body diversity as well as racial, the reality show is catering for a miniscule amount of the population when it comes to representation.
It's easy to dismiss it as just car-crash tv, but millions of people watch Love Island, and seeing the same type of beauty ideal over and over again is disturbingly damaging.
Jameela Jamil opened up on Twitter about her sadness and anger at the lack of body types represented by the show, whose bosses claim it's because they want the contestants to be "attracted to one another."
How much more careful and polite do I have to be to be able to partake in discourse with white women without getting accused of attacking? I already have to respond to them treading on *eggshells* because of the aggression I am labeled with. pic.twitter.com/msPwFcJitS
Jamil and the show's host, Caroline Flack, disagreed on their stances about diversity, with news websites painting Jamil as angry and irrational.
In reality, she was just trying to express concern for under-represented body types, ethnicities, gender and abilities.
The show is undoubtedly telling us that only slim, toned, blonde, white, big-breasted women are beautiful enough to catch a man, and only tall, white men with bronzed abs are good enough to be deemed attractive for women.
Stereotypes and tropes surrounding people-of-colour are undoubtedly present, such as Jamil's experience of being the 'angry brown woman'.
EXCLUSIVE: As a black woman, Yewande Biala, 23, says she had reservations about joining the ITV show after treatment of Samira Mighty…https://t.co/bauqyOhUIb
— Networkofnews UK (@NetworkofnewsUK) June 1, 2019
However, it's women-of-colour that appear to be experiencing the most difficulties.
Valerie Ross of Scientific Americanwrote about the non-verbal behaviour towards reality tv stars of different races affecting the viewers' prejudice, and her data is overwhelming.
On-screen body language towards people-of-colour can increase unconscious prejudice in viewers, according to Tufts University research.
Esteemed journalist and researcher Cheryl Thompson has also written about the portrayal of black women on reality tv, pointing out three key tropes; the 'Mammy', the 'Jezebel' and the 'Sapphire'.
Three racial stereotypes of black womanhood which came to light at various historical moments in Western media culture.
The 'Mammy' has links with servitude and the trademark subservient, mothering figure. The 'Jezebel', born out of chattel slavery, was seen as a sexually depraved, immoral and lascivious black woman. The 'Sapphire' was born on television; angry, emasculating and loud black women. Recognise the signs?
Serena Williams was cast as the racist “angry black woman” trope in headlines and debates across the world when she spoke out against an umpire for discrimination. pic.twitter.com/yjFtfHPGVG
Lack of representation on television can be seen outside of the reality genre, but the experiences of Love Islanders-of-colour speaks for itself. Everything is trying to tell them that they don't fit the ideal of beauty, just like the lack of ethnicity on runways, ad campaigns and film.
Serena Williams could never get the amount of sponsorships in fashion as her blonde, slim tennis players, who weren't even close to her talent. Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks revolutionised modelling for black women, but experienced immense difficulties in the process. Black women still rarely get cast in lead roles in film, theatre and television.
What does this tell you about who the public want to see on their screens? Not to mention the lack of care they give towards the mental health of Islanders. The damage which a lack of body diversity and ethnicities does to viewers is undeniable, if you don't see yourself then you assume you aren't enough. You would feel invisible.
One argument I have heard for the lack of diversity is that 'token' candidates such as a plus-sized Islander or woman-of-colour, face a barrage of abuse online as they are clearly the lone representatives.
It's important to take their mental health into account, can they handle this level of online racial or body-orientated abuse? The fact that they have to choose between being represented but abused as a result or not seeing themselves on a screen at all is depressing and unfair.
Yet the less the public see of other races, genders, classes, body types and abilities, the more they will misunderstand them and hold high levels of ignorance. Ignorance leads to consequences.
Diversity is merely one issue in a large spectrum of problems perpetuated by ITV2's hit reality show Love Island.
It speaks volumes that Irish contestant Yewande Biala has already been racially abused by trolls only hours after she was announced as part of the cast.
The 23-year-old is among the 12 participants entering the Spanish villa for the summer, which sees the Islanders couple-up and compete for the cash prize.
The scientist, who is of Nigerian descent but is from Enfield in County Meath, has seen her friends leap to her defence after online bullies asked racist questions regarding her nationality.
One troll remarked that Biala is "far from Irish", while another said, "not Irish and never will be." *Rings bell* SHAME
Luckily, her fans leaped to her aid, saying, "“Born and raised here I’m pretty sure that makes her Irish.” Another wrote, "Just because she hasn’t got white skin doesn’t mean she’s not Irish. Small minded people.”
This is so overwhelming! Thank you all so much for your love and support so far! Please continue to support our Nigerian Irish Queen @yewande_bialapic.twitter.com/Stl8dnfvS2
The Dubliner who is self-confessed unlucky-in-love has seen her Instagram followers increase from 3,000 to more than 21,000 in just one day.
"I don’t think there is a science to finding love and if there is then I have clearly been reading the wrong books," she said of her love life. Twitter supporters were over the moon to see representation onscreen.
One fan wrote: “Today has been a great day for black Irish women…A black Irish woman was elected to the Irish local council and a black Irish woman is gonna be on Love Island."
— Villanelle of House Martell(@Tenth_Muse) May 28, 2019
A Wakanda-level protection group has been made online: "Black Twitter listen the hell up. We are gonna support our queen Yewande Biala to the end no questions, no fuss.. it is what it is.”
“Officially announcing that I am apart of the Yewande Biala defence squad #LoveIsland," wrote another fan.
These ignorant scumbags who are targeting Biala are no match for her fan-base, and we are loving it. We stan an Irish queen.
