Love Island promotes “promiscuity and cheating” among impressionable viewers, a leading lawyer has claimed.
Single contestants on the ITV2 series are encouraged to pair up and convince viewers that they have found true love.
At the end of the series, the winning couple is asked to either split the cash or take the entire £50,000 pot home for themselves.
But the programme is best known for the antics of its ‘cheating’ contestants.
And lawyers warned that Love Island and other reality TV programmes are “normalising” cheating in relationships.
Claire Glaister, associate at family law firm Lake Legal, said: “There’s no denying that programmes such as Love Island are meant to be a fun and escapist form of entertainment, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
It explains their popularity with millions of viewers, particularly young adults who get caught up in the contestants’ ‘will they or won’t they’ relationships.
“However, the danger is that Love Island could make cheating normal.
“The show encourages contestants to stray and test the boundaries of their relationships.
“Young viewers with limited relationship experience may feel that this is normal behaviour in real life.
“What they don’t realise is that this kind of behaviour can have a shattering effect on family lives.”
She added: “I deal with the fallout from divorces day in day out and see the impact it has on children and the wider family circle as well as the couple at the centre of the split.
“I worry that the rising popularity of Love Island and the celebrity status the contestants now walk away with from the villa, could affect relationships for many couples further down the line.”