Ofcom’s most complained about TV shows of the year named

Love Island has been named the most complained about TV programme of the year by regulator Ofcom.

The ITV reality show and its All Stars spin-off had five episodes in the top 10 most complained about, with most of the complaints being about the bullying of contestant Shakira Khan.

An episode on July 24 topped the table with 3,547 complaints over the bullying of Khan, while the second most complained about episode was Love Island’s July 22 episode, which had 2,509 complaints made up of bullying issues and relating to the return of Megan Forte Clarke.

The show’s episode on July 23 was third in the table with 2,002 complaints of a similar nature, while its show on July 25 was the seventh most complained about for bullying and about the way contestant Blu Chegini spoke to Toni Laites.

Eighth on the list was an episode of the show’s All Star version on February 12, which drew 1,240 complaints about alleged bullying between contestants.

Also in the top 10 was an episode of Vanessa Feltz’s chat show, Vanessa, on 5, which aired on June 10, and saw 1,866 complaints about a discussion on breastfeeding and its benefits, which some said was misleading.

In fifth was GB News’s Headliners show, which saw 1,391 complaints over a presenter’s comment which complainants believed linked the LGBTQ+ community to paedophiles. The programme was found to have broken Ofcom’s broadcasting rules, with the regulator calling the remark “highly offensive”.

In addition to the complaints submitted by the public, the GB News show also received 71,851 gathered by the Good Law Project non-profit organisation.

Today With Samantha Washington on Sky News on June 7 received the sixth most complaints, getting 1,302 for a segment which covered the Madleen, a boat delivering aid to Gaza, with complainants saying a comment by the presenter “misrepresented the mission’s peaceful nature”.

An episode of Celebrity Big Brother on ITV2 on April 9 was the ninth most complained about show with 1,008 complaints over comments made by actor Mickey Rourke to singer JoJo Siwa.

Coverage of the Brit Awards on ITV1 on March 1 received 938 complaints over singer Sabrina Carpenter’s opening dance routine, and Charli XCX’s dress.

In Ofcom’s report, a statement read: “Complaint numbers have fallen from 2024, and while we’ve had fewer investigations opened and closed, these levels are consistent with what we saw in 2021.

“There are some genres that continue to attract scrutiny, in particular reality TV, which makes up more than half of the 10 most complained about programmes.

“This year, around three in 10 complaints to Ofcom were about Love Island, with the 2025 series totalling 14,121 complaints.”

ITV have been contacted for comment.