Love Island USA is a huge hit for Peacock, so it’s safe to assume the Love Island UK spin-off will return for Season 8 next year. However, we hope that comes with some changes. It’s no secret that LI USA Season 7 is considered a disappointment after the critically acclaimed Season 6. Season 7 has more viewers, but also more controversy. Frankly, despite how popular it is, people don’t seem to enjoy watching it very much. As a long time Love Island fan, I know this franchise can bounce back from a rough season. Here are some of my suggestions for how Love Island USA can improve in next year’s Season 8.
What can make Love Island USA Season 8 better
To start, Season 7 isn’t the worst Love Island season ever. It’s not even the worst USA season, in my opinion. But there are some very obvious flaws. For instance, we’ve only had two proper recouplings this season. Those usually happen every week! But by following this wishlist, maybe Love Island Season 8 can be the best one yet!
Better vetting of Love Island USA cast members
This is the most important change we hope to see in Love Island USA Season 8. It’s inexcusable that Season 7 had two scandals regarding the use of slurs. First was OG Season 7 cast member Yulissa Escobar. It didn’t take much for viewers to find videos of Yulissa using the N-word. Producers made the right call by sending her home right away. But losing an OG threw off the balance. This could’ve easily been prevented if someone else were cast instead.
Last week, it came out that Cierra Ortega used an Asian slur in past social media posts. It took producers a few more days to respond this time. Eventually, Cierra also left the show. In addition to Yulissa and Cierra, Austin Shepard and TJ Palma also had controversial social media activity.
Love Island USA surely has the resources to do thorough background checks and comb through potential Islanders social media. If viewers can find these offensive posts so easily, a casting team should as well. Considering how popular this show is, there must be enough wannabe Islanders out there who don’t have controversial social media activity.
Other ways casting can improve for Love Island USA Season 8
Not properly vetting contestants’ racially insensitive posts is the biggest issue with casting this year. Yet it’s not the only one.
Season 6’s cast was lightning in a bottle. By comparison, fans wondered if some Love Island USA Season 7 contestants were better suited for other dating reality shows. Or if they were too concerned with becoming influencers to show any real personality. Others complained that there were too many pre-existing influencers this year, and wished for Islanders from different backgrounds and careers.
Other complaints were that this cast is too young, immature, emerserd in TikTok speak, and lacking life experience. Take my colleague’s suggestion that this show could use more millennial contestants. At the very least, casting some slightly older contestants could be the right idea. All-time favorite Love Island contestants Maura Higgins and JaNa Craig were in their late twenties. Maybe slightly more life experience is beneficial for this show.
Let the audience have the final say in Love Island USA Season 8 eliminations
Ask viewers to pinpoint where this season went wrong, and they’ll likely say the episode where Hannah Fields and Jeremiah Brown were sent home.
Hannah and Jeremiah had two of the biggest storylines of the season. Removing them both instantly made the season less compelling. When asked why they sent Hannah and Jeremiah home, the other contestants gave reasons that made absolutely no sense. If you read between the lines, it seems Hannah and Jeremiah were actually eliminated because they posed the biggest threats. But the show needs some competition. Islanders constantly voting to send their greatest rivals home takes the wind out of the sails.
Meanwhile, viewers repeatedly feel frustrated that their votes seem to have no real impact. Letting Islanders have the final say in every elimination is what tanked LI USA Season 3. Hopefully, Season 8 switches things up and lets the votes speak for themselves sometimes.
Future Love Island USA contestants should take more risks
Part of the fun of Love Island is seeing how much the couples change up over time. But this season, contestants seemed allergic to exploring. Instead, many stuck to their day one connections. Even when they didn’t seem that compatible.
A constant complaint this season is that contestants are too calculated and obsessed with what America thinks. In Season 6, contestants made bold moves that risked America turning on them. Take Leah Kateb, who became Love Island USA’s most popular alum.
Sure, Season 6 winners Kordell Beckham and Serena Page were coupled up on day one. But America fell in love with them partially because they had a rocky journey to happily ever after. The fact that they kept coming back to each other proved their connection was powerful enough to withstand all the tests. That makes a more compelling storyline.
Love Island USA Season 8 should restore the Casa Amor format
Admittedly, I’ve had little complaints about Casa Amor in seasons past. It sometimes ends with guys getting away with bad behavior, the Casa girls can be treated as disposable, and most couples get back together in the end. Casa needed some small changes.
But completely changing the format was not the right call. Apparently, producers worried contestants wouldn’t explore unless they were made to couple up with Casa bombshells on night one. Again, that points to a problem with this year’s casting.
By coupling up with Casa bombshells right away, contestants once again limited themselves to one connection instead of exploring. Which is a shame because Casa is all about exploring! Also, Casa began by pretending to eliminate Nic Vansteenberghe and Olandria Carthen. The guys soon discovered they came back. But the girls had no idea. So, they mostly spent Casa missing their friend. Casa was also short this year. It’s even more difficult to make a new connection when you’re only there for two days!
I also have no idea why they changed the format of the Casa recoupling ceremony. Usually, this provides the best reality TV of the year. Instead, the recoupling episode was listless. There was only one real surprise.
There must be a way to make Casa more fair, or to raise the stakes, without completely changing the format of one of the show’s signature elements. A start would be making Casa longer next year. Regardless, considering the backlash to this year’s changes, I don’t anticipate the new format will stick around.
Producers shouldn’t focus too much on one storyline in Love Island USA Season 8
The first few weeks on Love Island USA Season 7 might as well have been the Huda Mustafa and Jeremiah show. Hannah so much as called it that after she was eliminated. Islanders were exhausted by how much attention the toxic romance took up. So were the viewers at home. As recappers like Ryan Bailey pointed out, this was a detriment to the other contestants and storylines.
Can anything be done about the social media hate in Love Island USA Season 8?
I have suggestions for many of Love Island USA Season 7’s issues. But I’m not sure what the solution is for this one. However, something must be done about the intense social media hate and backlash towards contestants.
While contestants don’t have their phones in the villa, their friends, family members, and loved ones see all the hateful comments and DMs. In some cases, viewers send death threats. This is beyond unacceptable and can’t continue.
The show constantly posts reminders to choose kindness. I suppose my final wish for Love Island Season 8 is that the social media harassers realize these are real people, not fictional characters. Love Island is supposed to be fun!
Love Island USA is available to stream on Peacock.
TELL US – WHAT IS ON YOUR WISHLIST FOR LOVE ISLAND USA SEASON 8? WHAT DO YOU THINK LOVE ISLAND USA CAN DO TO MAKE SEASON 8 BETTER?
