'Love Island' SA: MNet Responds to Criticism over Lack of Diversity
- M-Net has responded after Love Island SA was called out for lack of diversity and poor production quality
- The channel shared that it is sorry it didn't meet their usual standard on both counts
- Love Island SA lost its main sponsor LottoStar after it was slammed for lack of diversity and efforts to rectify that failed
PAY ATTENTION: Join Briefly News' Telegram channel! Never miss important updates!
M-Net has responded after its show Love Island SA was slammed on social media for lack of diversity.
The new reality show has been trending on Twitter since it aired its first episode a few days ago. Many tweeps were not impressed because there were only two black and two coloured contestants when the show premiered.
M-Net took to the micro-blogging app on Tuesday, 2 March to share a short statement after the show was called out for lack of diversity and poor production quality. The channel said in the statement:
"You called us out on the lack of diversity and production quality in our first episode of 'Love Island SA'. We're sorry - we didn't meet our usual standard on both counts. We are working tirelessly to fix things and to deliver the Magic you deserve."
The new programme has also lost its main sponsor, LottoStar, after it was bashed online. The viewers of the show and channel have shared mixed reactions to the statement. Check out some of their comments below:
@JustOneRedRose wrote:
"Love Island isn’t the first show. It’s the first one where there has been an outcry. We’ll be paying closer attention to 'DWTS', 'Survivor', 'The Voice' and the like. Also your local dramas are as pale as a ghost. We’re gonna speak out now."
@UNI0NH0USE said:
"I'm not happy, there isn't a fair number of Indian, coloured and white people on Moja Love and MzansiMagic unless we are not part of the country either."
@gracieumutoni commented:
"You're only sorry because y’all were called out, if no one said anything you wouldn’t change anything."
@tno2007 said:
"They did not respond because people called them out, they responded because the main sponsor withdrew from the show. It's about money always."
@sheabutterhun added:
"So all along you’ve been seeing nothing wrong with what you were doing until Twitter called you out?"
Source: Twitter
In related news, Briefly.co.za reported that that Love Island South Africa premiered a few days ago and Mzansi was not impressed. Many social media users felt that the show lacked diversity and had a cast of predominantly white people.
A few people also felt that there was a lack of other races too. After that, the show did some damage control. Taking to social media, Love Island SA revealed that they will have some new faces joining the cast.
"Look out for these hotties entering the #LoveIslandSA villa soon... Stay tuned, Mondays to Fridays at 21:30 on @MNet," they said.
The photo set that the social media account shared showed that they were going to be bringing in more people who are of a different race to the show.
The Twitter streets had "cancelled" the reality series but maybe this has made some of them give the programme a second chance.
Enjoyed reading our story? Download BRIEFLY's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major South African news!
Source: Briefly News
