Women in Westminster: In Conversation With Sharon Gaffka
Former reality TV star Sharon Gaffka shot to fame when she appeared on ITV’s Love Island. The show provided a platform that she has used to campaign on issues that particularly affect women and girls. As part of our Women in Westminster series, we sat down with Gaffka to learn more about what drives her and what she plans to do next
Sharon Gaffka is often viewed as someone who came to politics and campaigning after her appearance on the ITV reality show Love Island. However, it is clear talking to her that political awareness was something that was at her core long before she emerged into the public eye.
“I don’t think I really had a choice not to be political,” she explains during her sit-down interview with Women in Westminster. “In my mum’s home country of Indonesia, democracy came quite late. The right to vote, police brutality – there are a lot of issues. So, I was political, even without knowing it.”
That inherent interest in politics is what led Gaffka to join the Civil Service where she worked on issues including Brexit and Covid. She also believes her political awareness is something that very many others experience too – seeing it as the byproduct of an environment where young women experience the impact of political choices in a particular way.
“When I speak to young women compared to young men, I find teenage girls are more politically engaged – because they have to be,” she says. “The rise in online misogyny, how leaders talk about abortion or maternity rights – women are forced to be political earlier than men.”
What Gaffka has so successfully done is draw a connection between the personal and political in a way that has resonated with groups that are not always actively engaged in UK politics. From drink spiking to online harms, she has spoken openly about her own experiences with an authenticity that appeals to young people far more than the carefully crafted soundbites often favoured by mainstream politicians.
Gaffka fully acknowledges the importance of the platform that reality TV provided her with, but there is also a frustration that her appearance on the show is sometimes used as a weapon to undermine her credibility and the legitimacy of her voice.
“People often only focus on those three weeks I spent on Love Island as if that defines me entirely,” she says. “It’s as though I can’t be intelligent or have other characteristics simply because I once wore a bikini on TV.”
Gaffka sees this as a clear example of a misogyny that she argues is still rife across British society. To illustrate her point, she draws attention to the very different standards that are applied to some of the male contestants who have also appeared on the show.
“Some men have gone on to do amazing things post-villa, yet no one questions the fact they were once topless on national TV,” she tells us. “That conversation simply doesn’t happen. We still only allow women to be seen as only one thing.”
Gaffka is very clearly much more than “only one thing.” Her policy background, authenticity, and instinctive ability to communicate have enabled her to raise the profile of issues that are often overlooked in policy circles.
One of the first issues she spoke out about was young women having their drinks spiked on nights out.
“Drink spiking had actually happened to me a year before,” she remembers. “I thought, ‘OK, this is something I want to talk about,’ not to normalise it, but to bring it into the public conversation.”
Since then, Gaffka has become one of the most vocal and recognised champions for issues ranging from period poverty to the sharing of intimate images without consent. She is an ambassador for Refuge and a frequent speaker on the safety of women and girls.
It is a spotlight that she didn’t initially imagine, describing her decision to appear on Love Island as pragmatic.
“I never went on Love Island for fame. A lot of people say that, but whether it’s true or not varies. I genuinely didn’t,” she says. “I went on Love Island for a career break. I’d just been through Brexit, Covid, and then Brexit again. I needed a break.”
Gaffka always saw it as a temporary detour. “I always intended to go back to the Civil Service after Love Island. When I left the villa, I told my dad I’d take a year to see what this world was like, and if it wasn’t for me, I’d return to the Civil Service. That was our agreement.”
Gaffka never returned to the Civil Service. Instead, she found a platform – and seized the opportunity to use it to speak out about the issues that affected her and many other women of her generation.
“I remember thinking, Love Island churns out a lot of people every year so what could I do with this 12-month publicity window that would have real longevity and impact?” she explains. “I didn’t want to be just another name on a brand deal or the rich list. That’s not what I’ve ever wanted.”
In recent years, Gaffka has continued to expand the range of issues on which she speaks out, but they always centre on providing a voice for the very many young people who are often sidelined in political debates.
In the lead-up to the 2024 general election, for instance, Gaffka worked in partnership with My Life My Say, to encourage young people to vote. She tells Women in Westminster that there needs to be more efforts to bring the voices of young people into the political process.
“The average age of a politician is about my dad’s age,” she says. “What does he know about my life struggles? What experience does he have that can benefit someone like me?”
Gaffka tells us that she would like to see the voting age lowered to 16, alongside moves to work with young people in schools to help them understand the importance of political decision-making on their everyday lives.
“That way, every child has the tools to make their voice heard, instead of relying on someone like me to speak for them,” she says.
