As Love Islanders head back into the villa for a summer of sitting round the fire pit, getting mugged off and meeting their type on paper, one Fife teen is particularly excited.
Layla Cooke, from Windygates, is deaf and is dedicated to raising awareness of British Sign Language (BSL) and what it’s like to be part of the deaf community.
But Layla is also a huge Love Island fan and, like many, will be sitting down tonight to watch season eight of the hit ITV show kick off another summer.
This year, Layla has a special reason to watch: The first ever deaf contestant, Tasha Ghouri, will enter the villa in the hope of finding her perfect match.
Layla, 16, enthuses: “I’m so excited for Tasha to go on Love Island on Monday! I think it will be a great opportunity for more deaf awareness to be given to the public.
“It’s really exciting the filming industry is becoming more inclusive and giving individuals the chance to represent their disability and spread awareness.
“It shows we are normal people too and nothing can stop us.”
Understanding accents
Tasha was born deaf and wears a cochlear implant.
The device works by turning sound into electrical signals and can help the wearer recognise words and better understand speech.
Layla continues: “For me personally, I find it hard to understand different accents, so challenges on the show may be hard.
“If everyone is shouting at the same time it may be hard for Tasha to understand what is actually being said.
“I also can’t get my ears wet so any pool activities would be a no-go for me.
“I hope the other contestants have enough knowledge about deafness before going into the villa.
“But I hope they’ll also learn more in there, which will help include Tasha.
“Every one of us will have different strategies we need in place to help us. If the other islanders take the time to learn hers, I think that will be great!
“It is important the audience remembers there will definitely be things that are harder for Tasha. Supporting her will be the best thing anyone can do.
“Her dreams won’t be stopped by her deafness.”
‘I hope it will have a positive impact’
The representation of the deaf community was improved last year when Rose Ayling-Ellis appeared on Strictly Come Dancing.
But, as Layla says, there’s still a long way to go.
“Since Rose competed on Strictly, there has been more representation, which is great. But I do still think a lot can be done to improve this.
“I’d love to see the audience learning that disabilities don’t stop individuals from doing what they love and we aren’t any less than anyone else.
“It would be great to see more awareness and for the public to understand how much it can be a struggle for us.
‘Living her best life’
“I don’t know if Tasha uses BSL or Sign Supported English (SSE), but to see she is confident, beautiful and living her best life will be a good insight to show we are unstoppable.
“I hope it will have a positive impact on the public and contestants. By Tasha going into the villa, I feel she will become a role model for other individuals.
“It shows we can be deaf and cool and just normal people.”
Conversation