Australian reality TV star Tina Provis has called out Love Island Australia for its lack of Asian cast members in this year’s season, describing the missed opportunity for representation as “upsetting”.
Provis, a Filipina-Australian reality TV star who previously won Love Island Australia, shared a series of social media posts on Tuesday, expressing her disappointment with the show’s lack of diversity in its seventh season.
In a two-minute TikTok, Provis said she held back on her thoughts about the 2025 season, hoping an Asian bombshell would drop in the villa, but was sadly disappointed when the finale rolled around on Monday with no Asian representation.
“I am so disappointed with Love Island Australia this year. There is zero Asian representation. I wanted to wait until the season finished, just in case any bombs came in, but no. I’ve gone back and I’ve looked through the past six seasons of Love Island Australia, and there has always been at least one person of an Asian background and I’ve always found that very comforting,” Provis began.
“Knowing that at least 17 per cent of the Australian population is Asian, I can’t be the only one that finds that a comfort. In total, there have now been seven seasons of Love Island Australia, and there have been 167 cast members. Of that number, only 11 are Asian Australians and more notably, only one of that 167 has been a male, Al Perkins, the only Asian Australian male on Love Island Australia,” Provis continued before correcting herself in the comments, acknowledging that Ben Richardson — who’s of Filipino descent — appeared in Season Five.
Provis highlighted the importance of prioritising diversity on reality TV, saying that having Asian representation makes people who are a part of that community feel seen in Aussie media. She also spotlighted the gap in Asian representation in Australian media as a whole.
“I find it really upsetting because I think of when I came off the show and had all these really lovely messages from people who said they saw bits of themselves in me. Now, after this season, people don’t have those. People don’t have that,” Provis added.
“Beyond Love Island, I constantly noticed that there is an extreme lack of visibility for Asian male representation in mainstream media. There is a massive gap.”
Further in the TikTok, Provis touched on the heated discussion surrounding Love Is Blind USA, where Patrick, an Asian American, was accused of grappling with internalised racism by viewers and how she related to that struggle, which is something she’s been open about in previous social media posts and on her time on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Australia.
“I can only imagine the impact this has on the esteem of young Asian men and the internalised racism they may face, when the beauty standards have completely excluded them time and time again,” Provis added.
“Obviously, I appreciate that the casting process involves finding all the right puzzle pieces and putting together these perfect jigsaw puzzles of people to bring together the best show. But I just find it highly unlikely that there were no options, no options available to make it a more diverse cast, just one more person.”
Provis concluded her heartfelt video calling for Love Island Australia to do better in its casting process, especially when it comes to diversity.
“With 17 per cent of the Australian population identifying an Asian background, that’s 4.6 million people. It sounds pretty good for ratings to me,” Provis said.
In a separate Instagram post, Provis echoed her TikTok, highlighting the importance of Asian representation in Australian media.
“I have so much love for this show and the people that make it, which is why I’m so disappointed. I’m sure there’s a very logical explanation for the lack of Asian diversity in this season’s cast but I am not sure anything would hold up as good enough reason,” Provis wrote in the caption of her Instagram post that featured a snippet of her TikTok.
Since appearing on our screen, Provis has been extremely vocal about her experience as an Asian Australian — not only in the media space but also sharing her real-life experiences with both racism and internalised racism.
Earlier this year, Love Island USA‘s Cierra Ortega was embroiled in controversy after her past social media posts featuring an anti-asian slur resurfaced. As a result, Ortega was booted from the show.
In the wake of the Love Island USA scandal, Provis spoke to PEDESTRIAN.TV about her own racist experience in the Love Island Australia villa, revealing that a male contestant commented on her eyes.
“During my time on Love Island Australia, I faced racist comments in the villa,” Provis recalled to P.TV.
“I remember one conversation, the group was talking about ‘drunk eyes’ when drinking alcohol. One cast member looked right at me and said that I ‘would get the worst drunk eyes’ because of my race. When I pulled him up on it, he defended the comment and said that he had heaps of Asian friends who wouldn’t have taken offence.
“In another conversation, another cast member was describing the appearances of his two friends, one was Asian and the other was ‘normal’.
“On both occasions, I let these people know that what they had said was racist. I was hurt, but sadly used to these comments and had expected to come up against it at some point in my Love Island journey. Production pulled me aside to check that I was okay and let me know that the other cast member had been spoken to separately about their comments.”
At the time of writing, Channel Nine hasn’t responded to Provis’ concerns over Love Island Australia‘s casting and lack of Asian representation.
PEDESTRIAN.TV has reached out to Nine for comment.
The post Tina Provis Slams Love Island Australia 2025 For Its Lack Of Asian Representation appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
