Giorgio Russo's Love Island presence and what it says about women's football
The advice for England fans seeking levity and distraction amid the team's intense start to their European Championship defence was to flick over to ITV X, the streaming platform for one of the UK's Euros broadcasters, for the wildest subplot of the tournament. Giorgio Russo, brother of Arsenal and England striker Alessia, was in the Love Island villa.
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It was all too brief, though: he was kicked off the island on Thursday.
The more chronically online subset of women's football fans usually come into their own in moments like this, and it is with a disbelieving sort of glee that they note the England players have confirmed they are not only watching this each night but, as per captain Leah Williamson in a press conference, discussing it over breakfast.
How Alessia Russo is surviving that particular ordeal is beyond me.
The Athletic editors dispatched me to watch some of her brother's episodes and even I, no relation, felt like I had to peer through my fingers at the part where an oiled-up Giorgio dressed as a waiter and then covered himself in chocolate.
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That his sibling had two goals ruled out for offside in as many Euros games, including in a strong showing against the Netherlands, could be a metaphor for how it went for Giorgio, who found himself 'dumped' despite being far and away the kindest male resident of the villa.
Alessia went on to be named UEFA's player of the match for the 4-0 win over the Dutch on Wednesday, while droves of X users declared Giorgio too normal for Love Island.
Giorgio's run seemed to be good-natured. It hasn't occupied the Football Association's thoughts beyond a few light-hearted questions at a pre-Euros press day, even if there's an odd irony in many of the England players avoiding social media during the tournament to eliminate outside noise while also airing his great romantic quest.
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Love Island feels like an expansion pack to the main tournament for some Arsenal Women fans, whose fanbase is prominent on social media platforms.
Fan identity blossoms through in-jokes and the personas built up around a club's most popular players, often referred to by their first names. Such investment is why a good chunk of supporters are tuning in to watch one of their star strikers' relatives. 'Can't watch Love Island, someone record Giorgio in it like you're in a concert pls,' read one post.
'Anyone living outside of England and unable to watch Love Island, DON'T WORRY!' joked another. 'There will be a free stream showing the entire season of Giorgio Russo on (Alessia Russo's Arsenal team-mate) Katie McCabe's Snapchat stories.'
McCabe, an Arsenal fan favourite known for her uncompromising playing style and effervescent off-field personality, was at the centre of much of the discussion as fans daydreamed about her reaction to it all. Another added: 'I know Katie McCabe is taking Giorgio being on Love Island SERIOUSLY — like that's her Super Bowl, her World Cup.'
'Myself and a lot of other Arsenal fans I follow found it quite funny,' says Kennedy, an Arsenal Women fan based in Melbourne, Australia, for whom social media is key to connecting with other supporters. 'We all love Alessia and we were all curious about what her reactions to watching him would be. Arsenal fans have taken it all in jest, both rooting for Giorgio and joking about it at the same time. Overall, it's been a positive reaction.'
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'The (women's football social media) side of it has been so entertaining because a lot of people are tuning in just to see Giorgio when they've never watched Love Island before and didn't know what to expect,' says Summer, an Arsenal Women follower and experienced watcher of the show. 'The fierce defence of Giorgio to anyone talking about him has been hilarious.'
There was no mention of the footballing Russo in the week's worth of episodes I watched. Worse, the villa's residents have missed the few clues Giorgio has dropped about her.
Love Island has often featured semi-pro footballers (there are two of them in this series) as well as the daughters of Michael Owen and Dennis Wise.
'Giorgio's situation is completely different since his sister is actively playing at the highest level of football,' Summer says. 'With the Euros on, people who watch Love Island live are also seeing Alessia in the ad break.'
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Mostly, Giorgio seems too well-adjusted for Love Island.
'That's all right,' he says, when dumped by fellow villa resident Helena after four days. 'No worries at all. It is what it is.'
In one challenge, contestants are invited to pie members of the opposite sex. One contestant is pied for the way he speaks about and to the women in the villa; Giorgio gets a pie purely because he took the rejection so well the previous night that Helena knows he will cause no drama. They end up high-fiving each other.
It's all made for lighter conversation around Love Island than the show might be used to. Watching it for the first time, I am struck by the irreconcilable tension between what the programme purports to be — a guilty pleasure with a wise-cracking narrator inviting us all to watch on with an air of disdain and superiority — and the heaviness at each turn.
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It is not easy, for instance, to watch young women in distress, often over the way the show's men have treated them, and the knowledge that the ulterior motives of fame, money and popularity (there is a public vote at several points throughout the series) underline much of the action. Online discussions veer between judgement, analysis, support and ridicule. The show often spawns worthwhile online conversations about behaviour in relationships, respect and boundaries, but the cost is other people's discomfort.
In the UK, the conversation has often been a weighty one.
Since the show's revival in 2015, Women's Aid has spoken out against the treatment of female contestants by their male partners. Two contestants, Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis, later died by suicide. There have been thousands of Office of Communications (Ofcom) complaints, and a parliamentary inquiry into TV production companies' duty of care to participants was launched in 2019 as part of a wider societal reckoning in the UK.
Love Island no longer attracts the six million viewers of its peak six years ago but it remains one of the UK's most popular programmes among the 16-34 demographic. The UK's summer of 2018 was dominated by the men's World Cup and Love IslandShould England revive their Euros campaign and get into the knockout phase, that twin fever may be replicated in the coming days on a smaller scale.
'Giorgio's inclusion as the relative of a high-profile women's player for the first time on Love Island just shows even further growth of the women's game in England,' Summer says. 'One of the most mainstream TV shows in the country wanted to connect to the game and brought awareness of it to a largely new set of people.
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'Even if Alessia hasn't been mentioned on air, Giorgio's Instagram page has gained thousands of followers and four of his six most recent posts showcase women's football. Maybe we'll see some newcomers be influenced to watch the Euros this summer from that increased exposure.'
England's Lionesses have needed to get used to increased fame and higher stakes since their 2022 Euros triumph, with interest and scrutiny often extending, via social media, to their partners and families. Giorgio made a very conscious step into a different kind of surveillance. Had he stayed in the villa long enough, it could have ended in an especially compelling piece of television.
'With the England men's team being in the last two Euros finals, the contestants have been allowed to watch those finals despite having no communication with the outside world (in the villa),' explains Summer. 'This Love Island season is due to finish after the Women's Euros final (on July 27) happens.
'There was a chance, if England reach the final and Giorgio was still in the villa, they would have let the contestants watch it. That would have been huge.'
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This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Arsenal, England, Women's Soccer, Culture, Women's Euros
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