Judge Rinder disappointed by Love Island’s Curtis avoiding bisexuality discussion

‘If you are the one to start a public discussion about your sexuality, you can reasonably be asked to see that conversation through’

Judge Rinder and Curtis Pritchard (Getty Images)

Judge Rinder has said that he was “hugely underwhelmed” by Love Island’s Curtis Pritchard choosing to avoid delving further into a discussion about his sexuality in a recent interview.

Earlier this month, the former reality show contestant told The Sun that he “wouldn’t rule out” the prospect of dating a man in the future.

Good Morning Britain presenters Kate Garraway and Adil Ray later questioned Pritchard about his admission and whether he was bisexual, promoting him to add that he didn’t feel the need to “label anything”.

Following the interview, the presenters were criticised by viewers for “interrogating” the 23-year-old about his sexuality.

However, celebrity barrister Robert Rinder – best known for his role as Judge Rinder on his eponymously-titled ITV programme – said that he was disappointed by Pritchard’s response to the line of questioning by Garraway and Ray.

“I am all for privacy, but if you are the one to start a public discussion about your sexuality, you can reasonably be asked to see that conversation through,” Rinder wrote in the Evening Standard, adding that he was “hugely underwhelmed” by the professional dancer’s avoidance of the question regarding his sexuality.

“Appearing on Love Island is an invitation to have your sex life discussed — suggesting afterwards that you might be bisexual is a guarantee that someone is going to want to know more,” Rinder added.

The barrister continued, stating that Pritchard could have told Garraway to “mind her own business” but that “there is nothing wrong with asking somebody to clarify comments that they have voluntarily made”.

Rinder added that Garraway and Ray were “trying to get to the bottom of the real and important question of whether Pritchard was genuinely revealing an intimate fact about who he is, or whether he was attempting to don the cloak of a minority identity in order to cynically exploit it”.

Discussing the exploitation of sexuality in the media, the 41-year-old said that he believes “that the pink pound can be a useful market to tap” but that there is a difference between “appealing to a gay audience” and “being all-out disingenuous”.

“People who know they’re straight, but refuse to label themselves in order to appeal to a broader audience, are at best indulging in financially motivated, crass flirtation and, at worst, being a cynical tease,” he wrote.