Many people will be familiar with the narrator for Love Island, Iain Stirling. He has been narrating the hit reality TV series since its inception in 2015 and has been a strong component of the show ever since. With his booming, recognisable voice and “funny” one-liners he soon became the show’s flagship narrator, and there wasn’t a mainstream reason to dislike him. However, over time, Sterling’s voice has become an ever-present annoyance to me and many other Love Island viewers. But why is that? And why should he be replaced? I go into all in this post, so stick around to find out.
Who is Iain Stirling?
Iain Stirling is a Scottish comedian, writer, and TV presenter, born on January 27, 1988, in Edinburgh. He’s best known for his witty narration on “Love Island” since its 2015 relaunch.
https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-4474055489327117 (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});Stirling started in stand-up comedy and also presented children’s TV shows on CBBC. He has appeared on “Taskmaster,” “The Russell Howard Hour,” and “The Comedy Bus,” and has written the book “Not Ready to Adult Yet.”
Stirling is married to Laura Whitmore, the host of “Love Island” since 2020, and they have a daughter together. His humour and distinctive voice have made him a fan favourite on the show.
Why does Iain Sterling need to be replaced as the Love Island narrator?
Watching Love Island is a chore for me. To be honest I don’t enjoy it, especially compared with other reality TV series like Ex On The Beach and The Jeremy Kyle Show.
The only reason I bother each year is one of three things:
- A partner or family member is watching it & I want to catch up.
- Popular clips appear on social media.
- I have nothing else to binge-watch. (Frequent).
It’s a pretty mediocre show to watch really, and this is why when I hear such an annoying and unbearable person as narrator it drives me crazy. But what’s wrong with Iain Sterling? He can’t be that bad, can he?
Not a moral attack
I try not to become too attached to figures you see on social media, TV or the media in general.
From what I’ve seen, many public figures are completely different behind closed doors, and it’s not always: “What you see is what you get” – see our article on the ImAllex situation.
https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-4474055489327117 (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});With Iain Sterling, however, I think it’s pretty fair. There’s nothing wrong with him morally, it’s just his attitude and persona which annoy me.
He just needs to go
Every time I watch this show I have to dread his voice and his terrible dad jokes he tells at least 3-5 times an episode. I don’t mind dry humour, although I’ve always thought it was kind of lazy, but believe me with this guy it gets old very fast.
The jokes are mostly dry humour, and he always conflates their names with someone in his life like his mother or cat for example.
https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-4474055489327117 (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});It’s getting tired of hearing the same old same old and I know for a fact that his job is easy. The reason is it’s quite easy to make fun of these contestants when we listen to some of their conversations.
It’s easy to see that some of them aren’t the brightest bulbs in the box yet when Sterling makes fun of them I always find myself on their side. Why is that?
A better choice
In my opinion, a better bit would be a woman with a calming voice, which would be such a far cry from the current narrator. Could it be done?
Changing the narrator would be a big change for ITV since Sterling has been the voice of the show since 2015. However, given Sterling’s voice, I think something would be worth it.
More from Culture
If you still need more content like this then check out some other articles from the Culture category. You can also check out Love Island for more.
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