Love Island bosses have admitted they are still struggling to find a way include gay couples in futures series of the hit show.
ITV bosses have previously said more inclusive seasons wouldn't be possible due to "logistics" and on Wednesday ITV's director of television Kevin Lygo has insisted they are no closer to finding a solution.
As reported by The Sun, Lygo explained today: "Love Island is a particular thing, of course, it’s about boys and girls coupling up.
"So if you wanted to do a gay version, or you wanted to widen it, it is discussed and we haven’t yet found a way that would make it suitable for that show. "
He went on to point out the landmark moments other reality TV shows on the channel have produced over the years when it comes to representation from different communities on screen.
"You talk about Strictly, we had a gay couple on Dancing On Ice before that," he continued.
"We had a blind skater on Dancing On Ice we had a disabled person in I’m a celebrity last year. So I think ITV is already involved in the portrayal of a wide range of people on their shows."
The popular dating series has long been criticised for exclusively featuring heterosexual singletons looking to find love in the iconic villa.
In the ITV2 show's entire history, there has only been one same-sex pairing, when Katie Salmon and the late Sophie Gradon coupled up in 2016.
Fans of this year's series were thrilled when Sharon Gaffka seemingly appeared to come out as bisexual during a one episode early on in the series.
During the Horny Devils challenge, the 25-year-old was revealed to be islander who had enjoyed threesomes in the past.
"Well I don’t know if I’m supposed to find out if I like girls and boys if I don’t find out for myself," the civil servant told her fellow Islanders as the steamy confession was read out.
"Sharon is bisexual! So glad there is someone representing the LGBTQ community," one fan tweeted, while another quipped: "Bisexual legend Sharon!!!"
Since leaving the villa, Sharon has spoken more about her sexuality and revealed she spoke about being bisexual while in the villa.
Talking to the Metro, she said: "A lot of the conversations I had about modern dating on the show were never aired, but I was very open about sexuality and being a mixed-race woman in modern dating."
While Love Island doesn't produce anything but heterosexual pairings, Sharon isn't the only bisexual islander to have appeared on the reality TV show over the years.
In 2020, Megan Barton-Hanson, who starred in the 2018 series, said she had regrets not coming out as bisexual during her time on the show.
The 27-year-old explained that she didn’t want to add to the perception that she was “really sexual” on the programme while speaking on The Independent’s relationships podcast, Millennial Love.
“It took me so long to come out because I worked in the sex industry because I didn’t want it to be for the male gaze, or for people to think, oh she’s doing it for attention, or to seem more appealing to men. That is the furthest thing from the truth,” she explained.
Talking to the Radio Times in June this year, ITV commissioner Amanda Stavri discussed the increasing pressure for the hit show to feature contestants who are not all straight.
"There’s been quite a few rumours circulating about featuring gay Islanders, so it’s worth touching on that really… The line-up will be announced within time and it goes without saying that we want to encourage greater inclusivity and diversity," she told the publication.
"In terms of gay Islanders, I think the main challenge is regarding the format of Love Island," she continued.
