I also watched MIC from the beginning and back then I felt like I was seeing a little bit of another world which made it more interesting. The audition now to join MIC is clearly just who has the biggest number of IG followers. Not personality.
I think the rot set in with the first lot of siblings hopping on the gravy train of the real characters just to cash in. Tiny Tears’ little brother Sam Thompson being a classic hanger on example. Tiff, the very vanilla sister of Watson (who was a great character). Sam and Tiff even got together in a massive beigegeddon which we were expected to care about.
In the first era, some of the ‘characters’ were just obnoxious people and had no redeeming features- Marc Francis and Victoria an absolute gruesome twosome springing to mind. Happy to let them fade into obscurity.
But there was a good crop of actual characters once- Rosie, Binky, Boulle, Agne, Hermann, Fred Ferrier era. Sophie and Fred have a good podcast these days. They sometimes have more established MIC characters appear on it which is fun.
I feel that if Liv is the only substantial character holding the show together (which she undoubtedly is) then the future isn’t looking that great for the show. If the people on screen aren’t being treated as full characters with full lives, they are then only ever as relevant as their last snog or their last outfit. So then it’s a bit much to expect the audience to sustain any interest.
The MIC producers have probably just shat themselves because Love Island is so massive, even though these are two really different types of shows, and have maybe lost their way a bit.