Curse Love Island series review: deaths more complex
Prime Video’s two-part Curse Love Island series examines suicides linked to the ITV dating hit, but a Guardian review argues those deaths are far more complex than the documentary can handle. The show streams from 26 July 2026, timed with Love Island’s latest finale.
Key Takeaways
- The Curse Love Island series is a Prime Video two-parter available from 26 July 2026.
- It focuses on Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis, who died by suicide after appearing on Love Island.
- Friends and ex-Islanders discuss trolling, fame pressures and duty of care gaps.
- Critics say the tragedies involve many factors beyond any single TV show.
- ITV says welfare support has expanded, including 14 months of post-series contact.
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What is the Curse Love Island series about?
According to The Guardian, Prime Video’s documentary arrived as Love Island’s latest run wrapped, asking why an apparent “curse” hangs over the franchise.
The Journal reports the series uses the stories of Gradon and Thalassitis to examine reality-TV fame in the social media age, covering media scrutiny, online abuse, mental health and life in the public eye.
Contributors include former Islanders Anton Danyluk, Luis Morrison, Malin Andersson and Marcel Somerville, plus psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos and Gradon’s childhood friend Steven Douglas.
Why do critics say the deaths are more complex?
The Guardian review argues the documentary leans hard on Love Island itself while underplaying online vitriol, money stress, family issues, existing mental health conditions, relationships and sudden fame.
Papadopoulos says the point is not to blame one show, company or person, calling the tragedies a “perfect storm” of interacting pressures.
Manager Dave Read, who worked with Thalassitis, says the media have got it “so wrong” when drawing a straight line from the programme to his death.
What do Gradon’s friends and ITV say?
Digital Spy reports Douglas recalling Gradon’s “zest for life” before fame, then a faded spark amid relentless trolling. He says he wishes she never did the show, and that “with the rise of fame, came the rise of the trolls.”
Gradon, a 2016 contestant, died by suicide in 2018 aged 32. Thalassitis died in 2019. Caroline Flack, who presented five series, also took her own life in 2020 after leaving the role.
ITV says it takes duty of care seriously and does not recognise claims Gradon sought psychological help from the show without success. End cards note procedures have evolved, with language and behaviour training, a social media blackout in the villa, and proactive contact for 14 months after filming.
Danyluk’s testimony is a standout: after heavy drinking, drug use and a suicide attempt following his 2019 stint, he returned for All Stars in 2024, then said he would never do reality TV again.
Anyone affected can contact Samaritans on 116 123 (UK/Ireland) or the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US.