Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Davide Sanclimenti have been crowned the winners of Love Island 2022, winning the £50,000 prize money after a public vote.
Cülcüloğlu, a Turkish actor from Essex, 27, and Italian business owner, Sanclimenti, also 27, arrived in the Love Island villa early on in the series as bombshell contestants and won over viewers with their fiery but passionate relationship.
Upon hearing they had won, Cülcüloğlu burst into tears while Sanclimenti gasped and said “I can’t believe it” before they embraced their fellow finalists.
The pair beat Gemma Owen and Luca Bish in the final two, while Indiyah Polack and Dami Hope came in third and Tasha Ghouri and Andrew Le Page placed fourth.
And in a departure from previous years, ITV scrapped the option for one of the winning couple to keep all of the prize money.
The show’s presenter, Laura Whitmore, said: “After eight hot weeks and 36 amazing islanders looking for love, only four couples remain. There have been blow dries, bombshells and bed-hopping galore.
“The winning couple will split a huge £50,000 and this year we are not even asking them to choose between love and money.”
The show, which has often been at the centre of controversy, attracted 1,509 complaints from viewers to media regulator Ofcom, over alleged misogynistic behaviour by male contestants towards the female contestants.
Viewers took issue with the show’s “snog, marry, pie” challenge in which contestants revealed who they would kiss, marry or hit in the face with a cream pie.
Ofcom has also received other complaints related to alleged incidents of misogynistic and bullying behaviour on the show. Last month domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid said it had spoken to ITV about alleged “misogynistic and controlling behaviour” on Love Island.
ITV has previously said: “We cannot stress highly enough how seriously we treat the emotional wellbeing of all of our islanders. Welfare is always our greatest concern and we have dedicated welfare producers and psychological support on hand at all times, who monitor and regularly speak to all of the islanders in private and off camera.
“Ahead of this series, contributors on the show were offered video training and guidance covering inclusive language around disability, sexuality, race and ethnicity, behaviours and microaggressions.”
The current series of Love Island has been a ratings success, securing its biggest launch episode since 2019. ITV has announced there will be two series of the show in 2023 – a winter series in South Africa and a summer series in Mallorca.
