Former Love Island star Shakira has spoken out after facing criticism over comments she made regarding diversity on the current season of the hit ITV dating show 👀🏝️

The reality star recently sparked debate during a TikTok Live, where she discussed the show's casting and argued that diversity should not be viewed exclusively through the lens of race. According to Shakira, diversity comes in many different forms and she felt that point may have been lost in the wider conversation.

Following the backlash, Shakira has now clarified her remarks, explaining that she was attempting to distinguish between diversity and inclusivity. She also apologised to anyone who felt offended or misunderstood what she was trying to say.

The discussion quickly divided viewers online, with some agreeing with her perspective while others felt Love Island still has work to do when it comes to representing and supporting contestants from different backgrounds.

As the conversation continued, former Love Island contestant Alima stepped into The Shade Borough's comments to defend her friend and offer additional context around Shakira's remarks.

Alima wrote: "As a black girl who went on that show and a really good friend of her trust me she gets it. Maybe the point didn't come across the best but she is far from racism."

She continued by revealing a conversation that she says never made it to air.

"I remember on the very first episode this conversation didn't get aired but me and her actually bonded to the fact that we both were sh***ing ourselves about the first recoupling because we didn't know how it was going to go, who was going to pick and as the minority, me being black and her being Asian, we were scared no men were going to step forward for us."

Alima went on to explain that despite both women being confident in themselves, they were aware of challenges minority contestants have historically faced on dating shows.

"We are both 10/10s but on the show what happens is Asian or black women get overlooked for the opposite race quite a lot."

She concluded by reminding viewers that Shakira had already apologised for how her comments came across, adding: "It's not fair to have people calling her racist."

The debate has once again highlighted the ongoing conversations surrounding representation, dating preferences, inclusivity and casting decisions within reality television.

Residents, what do you think? Has Love Island got the balance right when it comes to diversity and inclusivity, or is there still more work to be done?

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