Abbie Chatfield addresses 'bullying' allegations on FBoy Island: 'Not okay'

From the moment it was first announced in 2022, FBoy Island Australia has been embroiled in controversy. The BINGE reality show, which is hosted by Abbie Chatfield and based on the popular American series of the same name, follows three leading ladies as they try to determine which of the 24 contestants are the ‘Nice Guys’ looking for love and who are the self-proclaimed ‘FBoys’ only there to play the game and win the prize money.

Before season one had even premiered, former Bachelor star and podcast host Laura Byrne was critical of the show’s format as she argued it “encourages men to lie to women and manipulate their emotions in order to win a cash prize”. While the comment was in defence of the women who appear on the show, the series has now been called out for the way the men are supposedly treated.

A handful of social media users - mostly men - have complained that the series “encourages bullying” towards the male contestants as Abbie and the three leading women often poke fun at their ‘FBoy’ behaviours. The main argument from critics is that if the roles were reversed and it was a male host making fun of female contestants, there would be public outrage.

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Speaking to Yahoo Lifestyle about the backlash, however, Abbie asserts that FBoy Island doesn’t “bully” anyone and it’s important for these critics to realise that she and the show’s female stars are “punching up” at men rather than punching down because we live in a patriarchal society.

“I think it's very interesting that when individual men are called out on behaviour, it's seen as bullying,” she remarks.

“One of the examples in the show that people have said was bullying was my joke about Jake, who left voluntarily in the first episode, and I made a joke that I forgot his name. Some men online were a bit upset about that, but it’s like, his only line on the show was, ‘Where are the b***hes at?’. So it's fine for you to say, ‘Where are the b***hes at?’, but it’s not okay for me to say I can't remember his name?”

Abbie points out hypocrisy in criticism

Abbie also argues that the comments defending the contestants on the show come from “the same men who say 'women can't take jokes' when they make violence against women jokes”.

“The show isn't that serious and the banter is a joke,” she continues. “There's also an element in signing up for a show called FBoy Island. It’s like if I go on panel shows and they make fun of me, that's not bullying, that's just having a conversation and banter.

“I’m aware the show that I host is called FBoy Island. I'm aware that I make buttplugs and vibrators. I don't get offended by those jokes, but men aren’t used to having that on a national scale like women do every day. I think that if you're that upset about me making jokes, maybe don't watch the show and maybe you should stop making jokes at a woman’s expense.”

The secret to FBoy Island's success

FBoy Island’s tongue-in-cheek sense of humour and raunchy premise is exactly why Abbie believes the series stands out in the current reality TV landscape, which has recently seen legacy franchises like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette being phased out.

“I think people just want a bit of a laugh. Everything feels so heavy and serious, especially since Covid, and I feel like everyone is on social media in these scroll holes,” she details.

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“I think that FBoy Island is just an easy watch and it’s silly. And also the gamification of it and the questioning of who is who and the allowance to call men out is validation, particularly for people that date men watching this being like, ‘Oh my god, we're allowed to speak about f**k boys or the overuse of therapy talk’. Things that aren't particularly egregious, but you and your friends speak about day to day.

“I think it's taking the best parts of a community of social media and the nuances of that to create conversations, but also the extremity of reality TV.”

Season two of FBoy Island Australia is currently streaming on BINGE

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