LOVE Island bosses are set to give contestants a stern talking to about "coercive and controlling behaviour" before they enter the villa.
The singletons will be warned about unacceptable conduct towards others ahead of the new winter series kicking off.
Show producers are so keen to nip any concerning behaviour in the bud that Islanders will also be offered "resource links" to read through in the lead up.
This comes after fans of the 2022 summer series complained numerous times about "walking red flags" in the villa.
Viewers found Jacques O'Neill and Paige Thorne's ill-fated romance particularly uncomfortable to watch, along with some conversations between Luca Bish and Gemma Owen.
Mental health expert Dr Matthew Gould, along with colleague Dr Paul Litchfield, independently reviews and updates the duty of care measures ITV has in place for Love Island contestants.
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Dr Gould said: “The enhanced safeguards introduced for Love Island 2023 demonstrate ITV’s commitment to evolve Duty of Care protocols to minimise harm, where possible."
News of the contestants' talk about "coercive and controlling behaviour" comes after another new duty of care measure was put in place.
Family and friends of the next batch of Islanders will now be banned from posting on their social media accounts during the series.
Instead, accounts will be dormant until they leave the show.
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In past series', Islanders' teams used their accounts to encourage viewers to vote for them and build up their following.
However, they were often subjected to vile abuse from trolls and there were even occasional spats between contestants' family and friends.
The new rules package reads: "As part of extended measures to protect both the Islanders and their families from the adverse effects of social media, participants will be asked to pause handles and accounts on their social media platforms for the duration of their time on the show.
"Islanders’ accounts will remain dormant while they are in the Villa, so that nothing is published on their behalf."
Dr Gould adds: "The bold decision to pause Islanders’ social media activity during the new series is testament to ITV’s serious intent, especially as this input provides both a benefit to the appeal of the programme and a potential source of mental health problems.
"Balancing this 'tight-rope' requires both the identification of which safeguards have the greatest positive impact on participants' wellbeing and the professional partnership, put in place by ITV, especially between producers and their welfare teams, and most importantly, the contributors themselves.”
Love Island returns to screens on January 16 and will be hosted by Maya Jama.
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