That wasn't enough for the viewer, who said Tinder was rated R18 and the 7.30pm show should air in a time slot after 9pm.
Schools and parents are actively trying to teach our youth how to respectfully behave on social media. They're working so hard at it. That episode is the opposite of how we want our children to treat each other. You say it is reflective on the Tinder age.
— Catherine Bennetto (@cathbennetto) June 12, 2018
You have to be 18 to use Tinder. What kind of reprehensible TVNZ HOD's decided 7:30pm, prime family viewing time, was a suitable time to put it on?!
— Catherine Bennetto (@cathbennetto) June 12, 2018
As it's in the same vein as other trash tv shows like Big Brother, ones that seek to shock in order to get ratings, why don't you put it on at a similar time to those shows?
— Catherine Bennetto (@cathbennetto) June 12, 2018
After 9pm so the impressionable young, who are hopefully being guided away from your show, don't accidentally come across it.
— Catherine Bennetto (@cathbennetto) June 12, 2018
A TVNZ spokesperson told the Herald Heartbreak Island "is a bold programme - it's meant to be flirty and a bit racy".
"It is also scheduled for a 7.30pm PGR timeslot and so the content in the show is appropriate to meet that rating standard," the spokesperson said.
Herald critic Anna Murray called the scene "savage" and "cruel" and called out another scene in which a contestant was labelled a "catfish" for using flattering photos. She labelled it "essentially a live-action Tinder sequence".
The backlash has already reached co-host Matilda Rice, who took to Instagram to ask viewers to stop sending her angry messages.
"Filming that was obviously quite difficult. Telling Ella and Tavita that they were the least popular there, it was hard to film and it was hard to watch," she said.
"People need to understand that I was doing a job ... I was there contracted and paid to do a job, and I did that job."
She defended the scene as being "exactly what Tinder is but obviously it's a lot more confronting when it's face to face and not behind your phone or a laptop or whatever".
"Please don't DM me anymore messages telling me I've done the wrong thing because I've had enough," she wrote.
Tonight's episode is set to feature the show's first duo being eliminated.
