Byron Bay threat to pull plug on filming reality show

Byron Bay councillors have threatened to rescind approvals for the filming of reality TV show Love Island.

Byron mayor Michael Lyon is threatening to rescind council approval for the filming of ITV’s flagship program, Love Island.

A tense stand-off between locked-down Byron Bay and television giant ITV has reached boiling point after local councillors threatened to rescind approvals for the filming of reality TV show Love Island and ban Sydneysiders from entering the region for up to six weeks.

After an infectious TV crew member from I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here sent the Tweed and Byron shires into a snap seven-day lockdown on Tuesday, members of the ITV executive convened urgent meetings with the two councils throughout Wednesday and Thursday in a bid to counter suggestions that they had been negligent in their Covid-safe measures.

The 31-year-old crew member – who has been identified as reality TV make-up artist Kelly Bowman – allegedly broke stay-at-home restrictions when she visited several retail stores and a local bar in Byron and Tweed after arriving from Sydney to work on ITV’s flagship program.

The lockdown has enraged local residents and prompted Byron mayor Michael Lyon to consider revoking council approval for the upcoming production of Love Island Australia, scheduled to commence filming on October 4.

Mr Lyon is also calling on NSW Premier Gladys Berejik­lian to prevent non-essential travel into the north coast until the region reaches 70 per cent double-dose vaccination.

“I am looking into options to rescind council approval for the Love Island production, from the same studios that brought I’m a Celebrity, and Covid, to the ­region,” he said.

The region has one of the lowest rates of vaccine uptake in the state, and Tweed Council mayor Chris Cherry estimated it needed at least six weeks to catch up to Sydney if it was going to open up safely.

One TV executive, under the condition of anonymity, said local councillors were “simply grandstanding” in the lead-up to mayoral elections later this year and failing to acknowledge the “enormous benefits” the productions bring to the economy.

“I think they (the mayors) are ignoring what these productions have done and are playing politics,” he said, adding that shire councils did not have the right to terminate productions on their own volition.

The latest fracas comes less than a month after the Byron Shire Council issued fines and halted early-stage production of Love Island, saying the company had commenced earthworks without formal approval.

Mr Lyon later accused ITV of a lack of transparency, saying the company assumed they could enact any plans they wanted without any process of consultation or approval.

The television giant has attracted the ire of disgruntled locals, who say the seven-day lockdown could have been avoided.

On Thursday, local filmmaker Tess Hall sent out a petition calling for residents to invoice the production company for their losses, saying “I’m a resident, get my bills paid”.

Also on Thursday, ITV distanced itself from Ms Bowman, emphasising that she was a self-employed freelancer and not their direct responsibility.