For fans of reality TV, “Love Island” has become more than just a show: Its launch in the U.S. sparked an obsession with the “Love Island” lifestyle, British culture, sassy British lingo like “mugged off” and “banter,” and jokes about the personalized water bottles the islanders carry at all times.
After four years in the UK, the show finally got an American release in 2019. Expectations were high, especially after the original series was heavily promoted. But Love Island USA aired on CBS, and, in a word, the show was less entertaining because Federal Communications Commission regulations required it to be regulated for American TV. (Also, half the fun of the UK version was the accents; the US version had a few foreign cast members, but the American accents are not as funny.) In 2022, it switched to streaming service Peacock, which allows for more vulgar content and has a much bigger audience among Bravo fans. Still, it hasn’t quite found a foothold yet.
That all changed this summer. The show got new hosts and a more diverse cast, and many say American fans have finally latched onto the series, which is starting to surpass the original. Now, according to preliminary Nielsen data, “Love Island USA” is the No. 1 reality show in the U.S. across all streaming platforms.
From the moment Ariana Madix strutted into a colorful Fijian villa in a dripping gold Revenge gown, devilish eyes gleaming, viewers knew she would add an edge to the series as the new host of Love Island USA. After all, Madix starred in one of reality TV’s most iconic shows, Vanderpump Rules, for 11 seasons. Since becoming a virtual overnight celebrity last year in the wake of her cheating scandal with ex-partner Tom Sandoval, #Scandoval, Madix has been getting even more attention. Casting Madix as host of Love Island USA was a top reality show move, considering it was a reality show that her ex-husband famously refused to watch with her.
This time, it wasn’t just Love Island fans who tuned in, but VPR viewers too. “I saw a lot of comments from people who said they’d never watched it before, but they started watching because I was the host and they kept watching because the show was great,” Maddix says. “I’m a fan and I’m interested in everything that’s going on. I really care.” In her “ideal world,” she adds, after the show ends, everyone would “get into great long-term relationships and live happily ever after.”
Simon Thomas, president of ITV Entertainment and head of international programming, can’t help but notice the similarities between Maddix and the late Love Island presenter Caroline Flack. “She’s the older sister that the Islanders look up to, or look up to when they grow up, and it’s publicly known that she hasn’t had much luck in love,” he says. “That’s tough, but there’s also some empathy.”
Of course, Maddix wasn’t the only one who helped the show get off the ground. The casting and resulting chemistry was incredible; Maddix herself called the cast “crazy” and “perfect” in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. According to Thomas, the “magic” comes from the fact that there were no “hard and fast rules” when it came to choosing the Islanders. “They have to be really, really damn handsome,” he says. “And they have to be able to schmooze.”
This season introduces Rob, the snake-catching, overalls-wearing hottie from season five’s Casa Amor, who seems to have gone from charming to dangerous after having a poolside breakdown. (Casa Amor is a villa full of attractive single people; Islanders are sent there midway through the season to test their existing relationships.) Then there’s Jana Craig, who loves to read the dictionary, goes on epic, tearful rants about plants, and is vulnerable about being worn down by repeated rejection. Animal-obsessed Leah Kateb and her dry sense of humor have often been at the center of the show’s drama.
Serena Paige, who’s been with Kordell Beckham since the beginning, not only slammed the brother of NFL star Odell Beckham Jr. for bringing his Casa Amor connection, Dia McGee, back to the villa, but also flipped the plate of eggs and avocado toast she made for him onto Kordell’s bare chest. Plus, Kaylor Martin’s exhausting relationships with Aaron Evans (who won The Traitors UK) are plagued by the aftereffects of his Casa Amor connection with Daniella Ortiz Rivera. It sounds complicated, and it is, but it’s nothing short of the TV equivalent of chef’s kiss.
Ira Madison III, a writer and co-host of the podcast “Keep It,” likened this season’s dynamic to competitive shows like “Big Brother” and “Survivor,” saying “Love Island USA” has become must-watch TV. “There’s a competitive aspect to the game that’s happening this summer that I’ve never seen before,” he said. “If these people were in the Big Brother house, they would play that game well, too.”
But one of the most fascinating aspects of this season has nothing to do with flings or dalliances: It’s the friendships. For the most part, the women on the show are fiercely loyal to one another, even when they’re competing for the same male suitors.
The show’s executive producer, Ben Thursby-Palmer, calls this season’s women “the Spice Girls of Love Island.” “They’re really diverse people, but they really support each other,” he says. At times on the show, it seemed like the men liked each other more than they liked the women they were supposed to be chasing. One of the central bromances is between Rob and Aaron, and dating the same woman, like Daniella, doesn’t jeopardize their bond.
“that [closeness] “I think it conveys a sense to the audience that when there are dramatic moments and reconciliations and you don’t know who’s going home, it really matters to everyone there,” Maddix says.
The current season, which ends on Sunday, also introduced some new twists. For example, the male contestants were given the choice of whether or not to go to Casa Amor, and if they did, they would sneak off at night. “They didn’t even have to go, but they chose to leave. So the women who returned to the villa… [it’s like] It’s good that they chose that. [about] This year, try to do more to live according to your choices,” Thursby Palmer said.
The producers also created a game in which the couples compete in a dance battle, at the end of which it becomes clear whether one of them wants to get back together. “It’s a very creative, almost devilish twist on one of the most simple and mundane aspects of the show.” [that] “I think it added more drama and excitement,” says Mariah Smith, writer and co-host of “The Smith Sisters Live” on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy.
Season 6 has had viewers hooked this summer, but the production team behind “Love Island USA” isn’t strategizing or looking ahead on how to capitalize on the momentum.
“I’m just trying to get through this season, to be honest with you,” Thursby Palmer said with a laugh.
