Love Island could surprise the audience with its first black winner, after facing accusations that the dating show is racist.
Whitney Adebayo is favourite to be awarded the £50,000 prize during Monday’s final, which executives would consider a ‘big win’ for the under-fire network.
Although the reality show has had mixed-race winners before, it has been dogged by accusations of bias.
Black contestants are often the last to be chosen when islanders pick who they want to couple up with at the start of each series, and several cast members have spoken openly about prejudice after leaving the TV villa.
Yewande Biala, who appeared on the fifth series, wrote an open letter in which she spoke about ‘microaggressions’ and called out co-star Lucie Donlan for repeatedly mispronouncing her name, which she said, ‘is just another form of racism’
Amber Gill, who is mixed race with Trinidadian heritage, won that series with Greg O’Shea.
And earlier this year Sanam Harrinanan and Kai Fagan, of Indo-Trinidadian and Jamaican heritage respectively, became the first non-white couple to win after starring in the show’s winter series.
Now TV insiders predict that entrepreneur Whitney, 25, will be crowned Love Island 2023 winner alongside her partner Lochan Nowacki, also 25.
A source said: ‘Whitney has won over the nation and ITV bosses could not be happier.
‘She has topped the public vote time and time again so the prediction is that she will go all the way and be crowned champion. Although she will be winning as part of a couple, it is Whitney who is the favourite among viewers.’