Love Island USA might be the realist reality show we have

Happy Thursday! I swear this is not a Love Island newsletter, but the New York Times just published a story that echoes what I wrote a couple weeks ago about this show. 

I’m writing this on a Wednesday when Love Island USA is on break, so hopefully that means I have a clearer head. But this season of USA has raised my blood pressure in ways a Love Island season has never done before. It’s not because of the show itself, but rather the constant discourse around this season. Are these couples genuine? Are the girls mean? Are these boys haters? Blah, blah. 

Reality TV watching comes with a lot of debate and discussion but I’ve never seen so many people be so divided on this show before! It’s like everyone is watching the show differently. I have a different theory on why this show is rubbing folks the wrong way below.

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Love Island USA is a reality show. But reality shows, despite what we think we want from them, often present a fantasy version of life.

This year’s season of Love Island USA is unlike any Love Island season I’ve seen before. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I actually like this season! I have seen far worse seasons of Love Island, ones that are either far more abusive inside the villa or are simply too boring to watch. I think, perhaps, this season is just hitting too close to home. 

Iain Sterling, longtime voiceover guy for the Love Island franchise, said that the relationships and sexualities on this season of Love Island USA are more fluid than any other season he’s worked on, reflecting a wide swath of Gen Z’s dating preferences.

@accesshollywood

#LoveIsland royalty Iain Stirling is speaking to this season of #LoveIslandUSA’s approach to dating.

I think this is clear in some of the dumpings that the islanders have done. In the past, most Love Island contestants have approached eliminations by dumping the islander with the least amount of prospects. This year, the islanders have made a lot of decisions with the idea that the people they dumped got to experience strong connections compared to the people they saved.

Here’s an example: Islanders Chelley, Cierra, Olandria were tasked with dumping one of three vulnerable girls. They were heavily criticized for dumping Hannah, who had a growing, multi-day relationship with Pepe, instead of Amaya, who hadn’t yet found a good connection, or Iris, who had clear chemistry with new bombshell TJ. 

“It was tough but it was a thing of like who's here to really explore and not lock in to off of the first connection you think is so strong,” Chelley explained this past Tuesday.

This is more akin to the dating mentality that you see in the real world, but it is not how you play the game of Love Island. For many people, the current season is like a manifestation of everything that’s wrong with dating today: No commitment, value differences between men and women, a lack of etiquette when two people like the same person, misused therapy speak, and more. 

Viewers are used to the contestants fostering, protecting, and encouraging monogamous relationships — even if it has only been a few weeks since these people have met. It is called Love Island after all, not Situationship Island, as one TikTok commenter remarked.

But this, I think, is the primary disconnect between the islanders and the audience this year. The contestants view their Love Island experience as a chance to explore many potential connections at once. The ones who were more interested in a single connection have been burned, dumped, or questioned. Meanwhile, the audience is expecting stronger relationships, jealousy, and romance. 

This does reflect the broader problem in dating right now, which is that many people crave monogamy while the dating pool remains somewhat non-committal. Non-monogamous dating app Feeld and the Kinsey Institute published a study that found that 81% of Gen Z fantasize about monogamy. This makes sense considering they have grown up in a culture where sex and romance are available on-demand through apps, which have also gamified dating to the point that everyone is always looking for the next best option. But that culture continues to loom over the dating scene, making it difficult for people to settle down even when they say they want to. 

Because they aren’t seeing love, viewers are taking these moves and attitudes as game playing. This is probably somewhat true considering this is partly a game show whether we like it or not. But if, as I said above, they aren’t playing the game right — what exactly makes them game players if they aren’t actually abiding by the usual rules of Love Island? 

I think most people would say that they’re aiming for the $100,000 prize or subsequent social media fame, goals that people have long criticized about the Love Island franchise. Frankly, those prizes seem like fair — maybe even meager — compensation for the amount of vitriol these contestants face. Love Island USA host Ariana Madix and the official show social media accounts have repeatedly asked viewers to ease up on the online dogpiling, some of which has been directed to islanders’ families.

Ironically, I think this is one of the realist iterations of Love Island I’ve seen. Even the desire for TV fame — but more importantly, the subsequent internet fame — is a very real element of the current culture. Becoming an influencer, or raising your profile as one, feels like the ticket to a better life for many young people. Why wouldn’t they take it? The experience has already benefited this year’s eliminated islanders.

@elite.brown

Thank y’all for 1.5 MILLION 🥹 it means the world to me to see how big this family has grown. It only gets better from here 🤎 #1Point5M #Gr... See more

I think it’s also jarring to watch these islanders be seemingly self-aware of the real passage of time. The decisions they make seem to come from a place of understanding that they have only known each other for a short amount of time. We’ve seen some past islanders break the fourth wall of the game before, with Messy Mitch in season 10 of the UK’s Love Island making moves that were clearly for the sake of creating good TV. I don’t mind these self-aware moments because they feel more real to me than pretending it’s reasonable to find love in six to eight weeks or less.

I’m not naive enough to believe that everyone in this villa has pure intentions. I think that there’s quite a few people who are sticking around for the clout. But also, why else would you go on TV? Everyone has to feel this a little bit, not just this season, but across all seasons of all franchises. Some are just better at hiding it. 

The fantasy of Love Island is what makes it fun to watch and what makes the couples easier to root for. There isn’t really anyone to root for this year because the fantasy is broken. It doesn’t make for a good competition show but it sure does make a fascinating sociological experiment — which is kind of what reality TV was made for.

@kariner_bobiner

#loveislandusa #loveisland

And if you do happen to find real love, as only a small percentage of couples have done over the past decade of Love Island, that’s simply a bonus.

Other things I want to share with you

• After the verdict was handed down for the Diddy trial, his supporters came out in full force to hurl misogynist vitriol at Cassie Ventura and the anonymous Jane Doe who had testified against him. It all feels like the Me Too movement is dead, writes the Cut’s Andrea González-Ramírez.

• Today is a good day to revisit Yap Year oomfie Steffi Cao’s essay on “girl’s girl mccarthyism.”

• New Raye song incoming. Her ascendance has been wonderful to watch as someone who witnessed the disheartening fallout with her previous label in 2021.

• The 2025 XXL Freshman Class is out and Ian’s freestyle is already getting flamed.  

• Zac from Casa Amor is lookin’ real fine since coming out of the villa… What’s going on with the cameras in there? 

• I don’t care for Labubus. But! There are two new Pop Mart releases that I am dying to get: the Pucky Egg Beanie series and the Duckoo Music Festival series (specifically the Daft Punk duck 😭).