Love Island Orania: DSTv Responds to Criticism as Mzansi Slams Show
- Love Island South Africa debuted to a divided reaction on Sunday evening
- Many have questioned why the show is not diverse as it involved a predominantly white cast
- DSTv issued their official response as Love Island Orania ended up trending on Twitter on Monday morning as viewers slammed the TV show
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The popular TV show Love Island South Africa debuted in Mzansi on Sunday night, 28 February. The show garnered a mixed response from social media users who excitedly tuned into the first episode. Many felt that the Islanders on the show did not sufficiently represent the demographic of the country.
The observation resulted in the term ‘Love Island Orania’ trending as Twitter users blasted the show’s choices. Twitter user Rorypetzer said:
“If someone offered you R10-million to sit through the next episode of Love Island Orania, how would you explain to your family that you didn't take the cash?”
Koviebiakolo said:
“If you wanted to do Love Island Orania, just say that, man.”
Source: UGC
SiveDaniels said:
“Y’all someone said even the country that colonized SA has more diversity on their version of the show. I am siiiiick... Love Island Orania”
CameronKendall said:
“Love Island SA adding ONE Black woman for diversity purposes is so disgusting. Is M-Net forgetting that this is South Africa where 80% of our population are Black?The entire show reeks of white privilege. I'm glad they're calling it Love Island Orania. The Bachelor too.”
Speaking to Briefly.co.za, a DTSv spokesperson said:
"We pride ourselves in reflecting diversity and inclusion for all our shows, including Love Island. The many channels and thousands of program hours we produce are testament to this. Viewers can be assured that this will become more apparent in future episodes of Love Island SA."
"We hope viewers will keep watching to enjoy the new stars of the show who will be arriving over the next few days. We understand viewers’ disappointment in relation to the production quality and would like to apologize for the technical issues experienced yesterday and are working really hard to resolve them.”
Meanwhile Briefly.co.za reported that Love Island South Africa premiered last night and fans were excited to see what the show could bring to the table. The franchise is popular all over the world and Mzansi reality television fans were curious about how the show would be different from the other versions.
Love Island SA is hosted by Leandie du Randt and she showed a bit of her romantic side in the first episode. It could be quite a whirlwind of a season.
Fans were impressed with the first episode of the show but not everyone shared the same sentiments. Fans on social media criticised the show for having a predominantly white cast. The conversation was started by @BassieM_ on Twitter.
"#LoveIslandSA is getting that international drag for their black erasure IN AFRICA. I hope this happens with every episode. It’s what they deserve," she said.
Social media users took to the comments section to comment with their thoughts. Take a look at some of the reactions below:
@dontcallmeKhadi said:
"Or we’ll just not watch it coz really ain’t nobody got time to keep calling out grown ass people that know exactly what they’re doing and keep doing things for clout."
@n_buhle commented:
"If they wanna cancel it they shouldn’t watch it, that way it will be cancelled."
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Source: Briefly News
