Matt Hancock has said reality-TV shows have a duty of care for contestants when they become famous. The health secretary’s comments follow the death of the former Love Island contestant Mike Thalassitis.
Psychologists speaking to the Guardian also stressed the importance of support both before and after stars appeared on these programmes, saying people often found it “hard to handle” when they were thrown into the public eye.
Thalassitis became famous after appearing on the ITV reality dating show. The 26-year-old was found dead in a north London park on Saturday morning and his death is not being treated as suspicious.
At the Spectator health summit in central London on Monday, Hancock said he was moved by the news of Thalassitis’s death. He said: “I am very worried about the support for the mental health of contestants on reality TV shows. The sudden exposure to massive fame, I suppose, can have significant impacts on people and I think that it is a duty on any organisation that is putting people in the position of making them famous overnight, that they should also look after them afterwards.
“I think that people need to take responsibility for their duties to people’s wellbeing very seriously.”
Thalassitis appeared on the 2017 series of Love Island. Jonny Mitchell, who also starred in the 2017 series, told BBC Radio 5 Live on Monday that many people struggled to return to normal life after appearing on the programme. “If you come off one of the biggest shows on TV, you can’t go back to working in Tesco – it would be almost impossible. So it creates a lot of stress and a lot of strain on people,” he said.
“I know a lot of people who have come off the show who have suffered with depression.
“To come off a show that’s that big, to be tossed out into the world with no help, no guidance, no anything, it’s a massive shock and then you start thinking: ‘Well, I’m famous, but what do I do next? How do I move forward? How do I feed this lifestyle? How am I going to do anything that’s going to keep me going?’”
In June last year, Sophie Gradon, who appeared on the show in 2016, was found dead at her home in Ponteland, Northumberland, aged 32. An inquest into her death, which was to be held on Thursday, has been postponed to allow her family to consider new information.
A statement from Love Island, read out on 5 Live, said: “Care for our islanders is a process the show takes very seriously and is a continuous process for all those taking part in the show. We ensure that all of our contributors are able to access psychological support before, during and after appearing on the show.
“The programme will always provide ongoing support when needed and where appropriate. We also discuss at length with all of our islanders before and after the show how their lives might change, and they have access to support and advice to help with this.”
Psychologists also stepped into the debate, saying that it was vital that aftercare was provided. Mark Griffiths, a chartered psychologist at Nottingham Trent University, said: “I would be in favour of more support. I think more support is needed but it needs to be support right through the process, a psychological screening beforehand, for example … You also need a psychological follow-up help as well – these are real people.”
Emphasising that it was impossible to know from a distance to what extent the show affected a participant’s wellbeing, he said that its formula of glamour and selection could be risky to those with lower self-esteem. “They go on to that show to be adored. As soon as someone attacks them, they may take it harder than those who don’t have that [impulse],” Griffiths said.
Prof Robert Edelmann, who has worked as a psychologist on shows such as Channel 4’s Wife Swap, said: “In reality, they really do need to provide an appropriate screening of contestants. It’s never foolproof but will give an idea if a person likely to have problems on the show … I am not suggesting [the producers] want people with issues but they also don’t want boring people, they make a boring show.”
Edelmann added that these shows want “people of a certain type”.
“Those people think they want lots of fame,” he said, “but if you’ve never been in the public eye and suddenly are … that is quite hard to handle.”
Another counselling psychologist, Julianna Challenor, was more sympathetic to the show’s producers. “The thing that makes people likeable stars is a sense of something vulnerable otherwise they become villains,” she said. “These shows maybe select for those that are vulnerable in some ways, so when something hard in life happens, eg Mike’s gran just died, the thing that makes likeable and watchable also makes them fragile in certain situations.”
She added: “There could be an argument for more support. There is no reason that these shows should not support people after it is over. But how many years should that go on for? Maybe they do offer support, but it also depends on the person [who needs help] putting their hands up and saying ‘I need help’. It’s a really difficult situation to be in.”
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.
