A group of men slut-shamed a woman on TV. What happened next was worse.

Love Island is at its best when it sticks to frivolous fun.

Whether it's two women fighting over who gets to date the new 6'5 bombshell or two men getting into a war of words over a revelation that came from a hot dog-eating challenge, it's all rather low-stakes silliness.

Love Island thrives when it's light and fluffy, or based around a love story.

Watch the moment Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury reunited on Love Island UK. Post continues after video.

But on the latest episodes, things started to feel too heavy, especially for one contestant.

Sophie Mills is a 22-year-old young woman studying nursing, who is a popular contestant on this year's Love Island Australia.

Arriving as a bombshell, Sophie quickly formed a connection with Irish islander Dylan Towolawi. But during Hotel Amor, she reignited a relationship that started outside the villa with Zane Prophet.

While away from the other contestants and the cameras, Sophie and Zane had a sexual encounter that was… absolutely none of our business.

However, the alleged incident was laid bare in detail for all the islanders to know, and the rest of Australia, during the reality show's infamous movie night.

I won't be sharing what was said, but during one heated moment when Dylan questioned Sophie over what happened at Hotel Amor, he yelled out that Zane had told him what had occurred before describing an alleged sex act in graphic terms in front of everyone.

There were two distinct reactions from the men and women who were congregating in separate groups: the women were horrified that such a crass description of an intimate moment was broadcast; the men descended into fits of hysterical laughing.

The details Dylan exposed were something that had previously been discussed among the men who grinned as if they were all 'in' on a private joke.

The punchline was this 22-year-old woman, Sophie Mills.

The whole moment was disgraceful, with many women commenting online about how upsetting the entire episode made them feel for Sophie.

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@Sophie you deserve so much better #loveisland #loveislandaustralia

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But what came next was just as bad.

Instead of people rushing to console Sophie, most of the islanders shunned her and sat with Dylan, who was happily sitting with Zane as they all gossiped about Sophie.

The gossiping group included female islanders, Hannah Steinfeld and Kaylah Holmes (who Zane had cheated on with Sophie? Go figure!).

Sophie was left stunned and on her own. "I just heard them talking about me down there," Sophie admitted.

Thankfully, Sophie was consoled by her friends, Mimi Paranihi and Em Miguel, who were rightfully disgusted by what had happened.

"The way Dylan approached it… what do you mean you just said that in front of everyone?" Mimi said in a confessional.

"It was giving slut-shaming."

In her own confessional, Sophie opened up about how "as a female, I get all the blame."

@loveislandau

“It takes two to Tango” #Facts 💪 #LoveIslandAU | Stream for free on @9Now

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Former Love Island Australia winner Tina Provis watched the scene play out, and was equally disturbed.

"No matter what the circumstances, intimacy should only ever be the business of those involved and there is no reason to call out someone in front of a group, let alone an internationally aired TV series," Tina told Mamamia.

"While Dylan was hurt, there's no reason to act out vindictively towards the person he supposedly has feelings for. It is so disappointing that in 2024, a grown man is reverting to schoolboy tactics to slut-shame and bring down a woman. Dylan exposing Sophie publicly comes across as a deliberate attempt to embarrass her and salvage his own ego."

This wasn't the first time on this year's Love Island that a man has shared intimate details of an experience he had with his partner without her consent. On last week's truth bike exercise, Mercedes Knox boasted that he had sex with Em, a revelations she did not agree to share with the group.

"We saw it first with Mercedes on the truth bike and now again with Dylan on movie night. This sends off alarm bells, there's a lack of respect for these women in the villa," Tina added.

"The boys breaking into laughter at Dylan's outburst reinforces the fact that they are indeed 'boys' and encourages a toxic culture in the villa. There is nothing funny about exploiting somebody's sexual history for your gain. If I were in the villa, I would be reconsidering any kind of attraction to a man who would laugh along with this kind of disgusting locker room chat."  

At the end of the episode, Sophie pulled aside Zane — the man who she had sexual relations with — who has copped basically none of the backlash she had to face.

@loveislandau

Rule 1: Never tell a person scorned to just ‘sleep on it’. #LoveIslandAU | Stream for free on @9Now

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Of course, without his boys surrounding him, Zane was full of regrets. "I did not mean for him to say exactly what he said because that made me feel like sh*t," he told Sophie.

"Do you know how embarrassing that is?" she pressed. "No matter what I did, nobody deserves to be treated like that, nobody does."

Sophie went on to point out despite his delayed apologies, in the moment around the boys, Zane "just sat there silently," she said.

"No one backed me."

The video has been flooded with women sharing that they found the aftermath of movie night to be triggering.

"Love Island Australia gives the world a perspective of Aussie boys," wrote one. "Last night's episode was really upsetting to watch as a woman," added another.

Tina pointed out that Sophie was within her rights to not share exactly what happened with Zane with Dylan, as she was aware this would be aired on television.

"From my experience, if you share an intimate moment with someone in the villa, this should always remain private. If you don't talk about something on the show it becomes very hard to make it a plot line," she said.

"It feels like a huge step backwards to see that men still feel that it is within their right to slut-shame and put down women."

Feature image: Nine.