In an interview promoting the eighth season, Monk noted that the audience is getting younger, with many daughters and mothers watching together. 'Fourteen-year-olds are watching it. That’s the majority, I’d say, of people that come up to me with their mum, and they both want a photo,' she said.
Monk, who has hosted the show since its inception, was responding to a question about the show’s demographic shift. The season premiere includes a scene in which contestants perform passionate kisses on a heart-shaped podium, with the camera zooming in on a man placing his hand around a woman’s throat, a gesture that recalls the controversial 'sex choking' trend.
Monk said she did not notice the incident during filming and compared the spectacle to a party game. 'I’m definitely not perving! I guess it’s just that age group where they do spin-the-bottle … I’m so protective of them all. I wish I had had a show like this when I was a teenager,' she said.
Monk, who rose to fame on Popstars Australia in 2000 and later appeared on The Bachelorette and Celebrity Apprentice, said she has not watched the documentary The Curse of Love Island, which covers the deaths by suicide of four people associated with the UK series, including host Caroline Flack. She insisted the Australian cast are in safer hands, noting that the show now provides psychological support before, during and after filming. 'When I started, no one knew how big [reality TV] was going to be. It was wild. There were zero rules. And when it was over, it was like, “Bye!” We didn’t know what to do when the fame stopped. Now, there are psychologists for that,' she said.
Despite the show’s bikini-clad glamour, Monk argued there is a psychological study to be observed. 'I know they’re in bathers, but once you pull all that away, within a day, you forget that they’re even hot, and you just learn so much by watching,' she said.