Ofcom rejects 3,600 Love Island complaints

Joey Essex, Sean Stone and eventual winner Josh Oyinsan clashed at times in the villa

Media regulator Ofcom has decided not to investigate more than 3,600 complaints about issues including bullying and racism on the latest series of ITV's Love Island.

The watchdog received 3,645 complaints across the series, which ran in June and July.

About half of the complaints - 1,832 - related to one episode, on 24 July. That saw a row break out during a challenge in which the housemates had to guess the result of a viewer vote asking which couple were only staying together to win.

However, Ofcom said it would not take further action because the negative behaviour "was not shown in a positive light" and the contestants were shown resolving their differences.

A spokesperson said: "We carefully assessed complaints about this series on a range of issues including alleged bullying and racism.

"We recognise that emotionally charged or confrontational scenes can upset some viewers. But, in our view, negative behaviour in the villa was not shown in a positive light, and contestants were seen supporting or apologising to each other.

"We also took into account that the format of this reality show is well-established and viewers would expect to see highs and lows as relationships and friendships are tested."