This year's Love Island will include the series’ first ever deaf contestant Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Celebrity This year’ s Love Island will include the series first ever deaf contestant By Anna Prendergast - May 31, 2022 It’s that time of year again, when we all lose our heads and put all our eggs in one basket: ITV’s hit reality show, Love Island, will return to our screens for its eighth season. But this summer, one islander is already making headlines – and history – as the first-ever deaf contestant. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Love Island (@loveisland) Tasha Ghouri is a 23-year-old model and dancer from North Yorkshire, whose work with ASOS and MNEK has previously gone viral. Tasha has a cochlear implant, a small device that sits behind the ear, with a technical implant surgically placed under the skin. It’s most often used for those that are profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing, so Tasha’s presence on the show – which centres around whispered conversations in the bathrooms and gossip – is a game-changer. Following in the footsteps of Strictly Come Dancing’s Rose Ayling-Ellis, who competed – and won – the celebrity dance competition last year, Tasha hopes to inspire her community and those with disabilities. With its host of slim, conventionally beautiful contestants, Love Island has previously been criticised for its lack of diversity and many viewers have challenged its tokenism with regards to race, body shape and sexuality. And while Tasha’s presence far from solves the issue, it’s most definitely a step in the right direction for inclusivity and representation. ‘Another win for #DeafRepresentation’, wrote deaf and disabled journalist Liam O’Dell on Twitter; ‘People with a disability can find love and can do anything. Loving the inclusivity,’ one fan tweeted. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Love Island (@loveisland) Today, the dancer has confirmed that she won’t require an interpreter on the show, and her independence will no doubt inspire many and mean a huge amount to the deaf community. In a Q&A on Instagram, she revealed that dating in particular has caused her huge anxiety in the past. ‘It’s the thoughts of, what if I don’t understand him? What if I can’t hear him in a noisy bar? What if there’s loud music and I’ll keep saying pardon? So many thoughts like this go through my head.’ Often, she prefers to only disclose information about her hearing to those she is ‘very, very comfortable’ with, so taking part in a show that once broke records with 3.2 million viewers is quite a feat. ‘Not everyone is open-minded and because ‘disabilities’ has this negative outlook sometimes on it, we are seen in a different way, which is how it shouldn’t be,’ she explained. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Love Island (@loveisland) But despite her reservations, she’s determined not to hold back when it comes to meeting the one – and, of course, winning the show’s prize money. ‘It’s a tough one because I’m a girls’ girl but it is a dating show and I’m here to find my man,’ she told ITV. ‘I may have to step on toes but I’ll do it in the nicest way possible.’ READ MORE: Love Island has axed this iconic (but disgusting) part of the show this year RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR 50 of the best celebrity Halloween costumes of all time Shirley Ballas ‘ Strictly gave me back my hope’ Davina McCall discusses how men can help women going through the menopause Popular in Celebrity TV chef Gino D Acampo on Sardinia Sophia Loren and scary salads May 25, 2017 The Evergreen Goddess Exercise guru Diana Moran on looking fit and July 10, 2017 More more Julianne Moore November 13, 2017 Author Jill Mansell on designer notebooks commissioning art and the family January 16, 2018 EMOTIONAL TIES Kelly Hoppen on vodka vintage finds and being a April 4, 2018 ‘ I have no regrets’ Millie Mackintosh on divorce debt and reuniting May 20, 2018 EMOTIONAL TIES TV presenter and tennis player Annabel Croft shares her July 1, 2018 Stella Parton ‘ Dolly and I have always been close’ August 12, 2018 Anna Friel on getting jeered in the street shared parenting with September 23, 2018 Queen of primetime Charlotte Riley on juggling rising stardom with pregnancy October 21, 2018 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. All Rights Reserved