Because the UK didn’t have its first gay dating programme until this year, I Kissed A Boy actor Ollie King devised a plot to gatecrash Love Island to make a point about representation.
Ollie, 27, just participated in the BBC’s newest series with host Dannii Minogue, but he almost made it on the ITV programme for heterosexual (and occasionally bisexual) individuals.
‘I did actually apply for Love Island a few years back,’ Ollie said.
The Brighton tarmacer got through much of the application procedure, but not all was as it appeared.
‘I got through a lot of stages, but I did actually say that I was bisexual.
‘It was a white lie,’ he admitted to us.
Ollie had a good motive for trying to derail the performance.
‘I know it sounds sad, but I wanted to go there and steal the money when you could for the scandal.’
The victorious pair had previously been questioned if they were come to’steal’ or’split’ the £50,000 reward sum. Because no one ever stole, the twist was dropped last year.
‘Then it would come out that “Ollie is not actually bi, he’s gay and he’s stolen the money.”
‘My whole prerogative was to be like, “Where’s our representation? Where’s our dating shows?”
‘If I can go on there and claim I’m bi, hopefully, I can get to the end and steal the money or whatever and then basically just mess up a whole system of it,’ he explained.
‘I would have been a hero in the gay world.’
There was only one downside to his plan – ‘I may have broken someone’s heart.’
Unfortunately for Ollie, he did not make it onto the ITV show, and he has his theories as to why.
‘I feel like when it comes to the social media checks, they sniffed me out,’ he concluded.
The story didn’t end there though, as last year he was invited to be a contestant on the very first series of I Kissed a Boy.
‘It’s so weird because I went from that [Love Island application] to then being asked to do an actual gay version. It was of course going to be yes. I’ve been waiting for this, just chomping at the bit to do it.’
Ollie praised the show for the much-needed representation.
‘Everybody in the community is buzzing for this kind of show to be here. I’ve had so many positive messages. The show had such a diverse cast with all different stories so many people have been able to relate,’ Ollie told us.
‘I feel like on most dating shows they’ll throw one or two gay couples into the mix to keep us happy, but this is going at it with both barrels. There’s no holding back and I loved it so much.’
He’s even had notes from folks who were inspired to come out after seeing the episode.
‘There is a carpenter in my local area, who reached out to say he’d been struggling for years with his sexuality and had been watching the show in secret because he still lives with his dad and brothers.
‘He said: “After seeing you on screen I’ve conjured up the courage to come out. I know you work in a masculine environment too so to see that you can be confident and happy has made me feel like it’s doable. Thank you for showing me the way”.’
I Kissed a Boy is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
