Last summer, Love Island USA trounced Love Island UK. It was something I thought would never happen. But Love Island USA gave us its best season yet with Season 6. Unfortunately, Love Island UK had a flop season. It exemplified the many problems that turned the reality show from must-see TV to a shell of its former glory. Love Island UK’s ratings continued to decline, and contestants struggled to gain significant Instagram followings. By comparison, Love Island USA was the hottest show of the summer. Multiple contestants left the villa to millions of new Instagram followers and certified celebrity status.
Now, the upcoming Love Island USA Season 7 has the weight of high expectations. Host Ariana Madix tried to lower those ahead of time. She cautioned that Season 6 was a once-in-a-lifetime season of reality tv. How can Love Island USA stay fresh and avoid disappointing fans? And how can it avoid falling into the same traps that turned Love Island UK stale? We have some ideas below.
Love Island USA should keep the format fresh and mix things up
Love Island is at its worse when it becomes predictable. Perhaps it was unavoidable for that to happen to Love Island UK. After all, it is celebrating its tenth anniversary this summer.
However, most loyal LI UK viewers would likely admit the show’s format has been stale for years. It’s as if contestants know exactly what to expect, and go through the motions. It’s a bad sign when even the show’s Casa Amor twist can’t create compelling drama.
Love Island USA Season 6 often took risks and tweaked the format, to great results. For instance, casting not one but three bombshells in the premiere episode got Season 6 off to a rocking start. Later in the season, sending girls videos of the guys’ actions in Casa Amor was genius. The resulting Casa Amor recoupling gave us 2024’s most shocking reality TV moments.
This is, after all, a show that airs daily during the summer. If production doesn’t take some risks, viewers will inevitably get bored and turn it off.
Love Island USA should avoid relying on returning contestants and celebrity Islanders
Part of the joy of Love Island is discovering new reality TV superstars. Take LI USA Season 6 breakouts Leah Kateb, JaNa Craig, and Serena Page, aka the PPG. However, last season of Love Island UK featured longtime reality TV star Joey Essex. Maybe this sounded good on paper, but it turned Love Island into the Joey Essex show. It became apparent that he had certain privileges and production insights the other islanders didn’t get. That’s not what Love Island is about!
In addition to celebrities, Love Island UK became too reliant on bringing back former contestants. While this may lead to some initial gasps, it ultimately fizzles every time. Love Island USA tried it last year by bringing back Season 5’s Kassy Castillo and Harrison Hans Luna. Neither left much of an impact, and were gone within days.
There’s a reason Love Island: All Stars fell flat both seasons. On paper, an All Stars season sounded like a great idea. In reality, it’s near impossible to recapture lighting in a bottle. Returning contestants are too aware of their public image. Many of them focus on crafting redemption arcs instead of starting drama. Take Adam Collard, whose return in Season 8 kicked off this trend.
There are some exceptions to this rule. For instance, Rob Rausch returned after appearing in Season 5’s Casa Amor. But in that case, casting directors recognized star power in a limited appearance and decided to give him a better shot. Rob became one of the most talked about Season 6 stars, so that worked out.
For the most part, however, previous contestants should stick to spin-offs like the upcoming Love Island: Beyond the Villa. Or Love Island Games, which is set for Season 2 soon.
Love Island challenges should produce drama
Viewers of Love Island UK complain about the lack of challenges in recent seasons. A recurring joke last season was that production spent too much money on Joey Essex and had none left for challenges.
At their best, Love Island challenges provide fun moments, enable contestants to take risks, and amplify the drama. For instance, challenges frequently include contestants sharing which of their fellow Islanders they’d like to kiss. Often, this pushes contestants to make a move on an unexpected co-star. Last season, it lead to a major fight between Kaylor Martin and Aaron Evans. It was the first crack in that very tumultuous relationship.
Other challenges involve Islanders sharing how they really feel about each other. The juicy drama that brews as a result is top-notch. In other words, challenges are a fundamental part of the show. It’s a shame they’ve fallen by the wayside on LI UK. And that’s probably one reason UK viewers complain recent seasons feel listless and boring. Keep the challenges coming, Love Island USA!
Love Island USA contestants should avoid copying past LI stars
“Be yourself” sounds like overly simple advice for incoming Season 7 Islanders. However, it’s what host Ariana Madix and Season 6 winner Kordell Beckham both advised. Considering Season 6’s popularity, viewers are braced for contestants trying too hard to emulate breakouts like the PPG. We’ve seen this happen on LI UK. For years, contestants appear to copy the most famous Islanders like Maura Higgins, Olivia Atwood, or Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu. However, all those women were unapologetically themselves.
While future Islanders shouldn’t copy past stars, they can take cues on why viewers responded better to certain contestants. For instance, Leah Kateb became an icon by taking risks and staying true to herself. Even when it wasn’t initially received well. Also, viewers found it refreshing that Serena didn’t take Kordell back right away. It was inspiring to see her stand up for herself. And it meant Kordell had to prove himself, which made viewers fall for him. I’m sure that’s one reason why Serena and Kordell won.
But it’s not just up to contestants themselves. Production also needs to allow Islanders’ unique personalities to shine through. In recent Love Island UK seasons, the hilarious moments and silly chats have been relegated to Unseen Bits, a clip show which airs over the weekend. The infamous Brexit conversation would probably be cut out of the main show today. As a result, LI UK contestant conversations become repetitive, boring, and forced.
Hopefully, LI USA Season 7 learns from the UK mistakes and leaves those in. Remember, Love Island is supposed to be fun!
Love Island USA is available to stream on Peacock.
TELL US – HOW CAN LOVE ISLAND USA AVOID THE SAME MISTAKES AS LOVE ISLAND UK? ARE YOU MORE EXCITED FOR LOVE ISLAND USA OR LOVE ISLAND UK THIS YEAR?
