The discussion around Samira Mighty’s exit from Love Island

On Thursday night Samira Mighty quit Love Island to be with Frankie Foster, who was eliminated from the show last week.

Samira Mighty was one the first women to enter the Love Island villa. Surprisingly, she is also one of the last women in the series to find ‘love’. Samira has been dealt with blow after blow, being told by other male contestants that she wasn’t their type until meeting Frankie.

Throughout Samira’s struggle she has had the backing of the fans. When Samira finally found herself in a happy couple you would assume the producers would give the couple appropriate airtime. However, it has come to light that scenes which showed how close Frankie and Samira had become – including a night they spent together in the hideaway – were not aired by producers.

Unfair representation

Fans of the show feel that this choice was made intentionally to pigeon hole Samira into the role of reliable friend. We mainly see Samira consoling and supporting fellow contestants such as Megan, Alex and Dani. Additionally, fellow contestant Megan, whose love triangles have been getting considerable airtime since she arrived, has been in the hideaway twice and each time it has been aired.

It has been revealed that Love Island bosses had cut three more Hideaway sessions – Charlie and Ellie, Jack and Dani and Sam and Georgia.

Love Island said in a statement to Digital Spy:

“As we have said before, it is not possible to show everything that happens in the villa due to time constraints. There are a number of couples whose time in the Hideaway has not been shown.

“It is always our intention to produce a show that is a fair and accurate representation of life in the villa.”

Without a doubt, if Samira and Frankie had been given adequate airtime, fans would be able to form a real connection with them – just as we have formed connections with the other couples who we know and love and remain voting for week in and week out.