Love Island (TV Program)

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    ‘Love Island USA’ Reunion: 5 Biggest Takeaways

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    After a chaotic and fun season, even more drama unfolded on social media in the weeks that followed. This Peacock special broke everything down.This summer’s season of “Love Island U.S.A.” has been the most popular of the franchise so far. And, if it feels like everyone is talking about it, it’s because they probably are — during the second week of July, this show was the most watched streaming original series in the U.S., according to Luminate, an entertainment data tracking service. That means it outranked “The Bear.”Because of the season’s popularity, it made sense for the show to have its first ever reunion special. Hosted by Ariana Madix, whose training included being grilled by Andy Cohen during her many “Vanderpump Rules” reunions, the show featured 25 Islanders — both OGs and Casa Amor — discussing not only what went on during the season but also all the messy drama that has unfolded on social media in the weeks after the show aired.Here are the five biggest takeaways from the reunion.Full footage of the firepit vote between Serena Page, Olivia Walker, Leah Kateb and Kaylor Martin is revealed.One of the biggest and longest running dramas in the villa this season had to do with the dumping of Andrea Carmona. At the time, Carmona was coupled up with Rob Rausch, who had just gotten out of a couple with Leah Kateb.A handful of the women in the villa had to decide whom to dump between Carmona, Nicole Jacky or JaNa Craig.The decision to send Carmona home caused many fights, including one during which Martin and Walker told Rausch that Kateb had been the one pushing to send Carmona home — and this information discouraged Rausch from recoupling with Kateb. Kateb maintained that she “tried to take a back seat” in the decision making.Throughout and following the season, viewers asked on social media why the show didn’t just air the entire unedited footage of the four women making the decision, instead of allowing a seemingly endless “he-said-she-said.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      5 Takeaways from the ‘Love Island U.S.A.’ Season 6 Reunion

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      After a chaotic and fun season, even more drama unfolded on social media in the weeks that followed. This Peacock special broke everything down.This summer’s season of “Love Island U.S.A.” has been the most popular of the franchise so far. And, if it feels like everyone is talking about it, it’s because they probably are — during the second week of July, this show was the most watched streaming original series in the U.S., according to Luminate, an entertainment data tracking service. That means it outranked “The Bear.”Because of the season’s popularity, it made sense for the show to have its first ever reunion special. Hosted by Ariana Madix, whose training included being grilled by Andy Cohen during her many “Vanderpump Rules” reunions, the show featured 25 Islanders — both OGs and Casa Amor — discussing not only what went on during the season but also all the messy drama that has unfolded on social media in the weeks after the show aired.Here are the five biggest takeaways from the reunion.Full footage of the firepit vote between Serena Page, Olivia Walker, Leah Kateb and Kaylor Martin is revealed.One of the biggest and longest running dramas in the villa this season had to do with the dumping of Andrea Carmona. At the time, Carmona was coupled up with Rob Rausch, who had just gotten out of a couple with Leah Kateb.A handful of the women in the villa had to decide whom to dump between Carmona, Nicole Jacky or JaNa Craig.The decision to send Carmona home caused many fights, including one during which Martin and Walker told Rausch that Kateb had been the one pushing to send Carmona home — and this information discouraged Rausch from recoupling with Kateb. Kateb maintained that she “tried to take a back seat” in the decision making.Throughout and following the season, viewers asked on social media why the show didn’t just air the entire unedited footage of the four women making the decision, instead of allowing a seemingly endless “he-said-she-said.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Rob Rausch and Aaron Evans Talk ‘Love Island’ Bromance

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      The “bromance” between Rob Rausch and Aaron Evans has helped make this season a hit. We talk to the pair about their special bond.The premise of “Love Island” is simple — put a bunch of attractive people on a remote island in Fiji where they have no communication with the outside world, are filmed 24/7 and endure silly (and often gross) challenges with the ultimate goal of coupling up with another islander.Like many dating shows, “Love Island” (which now has U.S., U.K. and Australia versions, among many others) doesn’t actually yield that many enduring romances. Instead, the friendships that form can often define the show. The bromance playing out between Aaron Evans and Rob Rausch on the current season of “Love Island U.S.A.” is a prime example.From left: Evans, Kaylor Martin and Rausch on “Love Island USA.”Ben Symons/PeacockViewers have seen both of them pursue romantic relationships — Evans with Kaylor Martin and Rausch with a handful of different islanders. But just as often as they were schmoozing and canoodling with women, they were sitting at the end of the villa’s dock shedding tears, laughing or talking about their feelings. This set off a range of comments online — some viewers celebrated their friendship with TikTok edits of their best moments, while others implied (or said outright) that they both wanted to be more than friends. Their displays of affection were startling to some viewers, as male friendships on TV are rarely cast in that light. The pair’s bond has been one of the major reasons this season of “Love Island” has become a breakout hit, topping most-watched charts during its summer run and finally matching up to the original U.K. version in the eyes of many fans. Over a Zoom call — where Evans was in a lodge in Britain that was shaking thanks to a rambunctious washing machine and a shirtless Rausch was in and out of bed in a house in Los Angeles — we discussed the response to their friendship and the portrayal of men’s vulnerability onscreen.When Evans (from the coastal area of southwest England) and Rausch (a self-described “snake wrangler” from Alabama) met, it was not friendship at first sight. They bonded when Evans offered Rausch a cigarette, but Rausch thought that Evans was too wild.

      @loveislandusa Brotherhood has kept these two afloat. Bye for now, Dock! #LoveIslandUSA @Robert Rausch @Aaron.evans ♬ original sound – Love Island USA We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      In Shows Like ‘Love Island USA,’ the Setting Is Another Character

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      Reality TV staples like “Love Island” and “Bachelor in Paradise” often take place in luxury resorts to set the mood. But not all resorts love the attention.Last summer, while filming an episode during the fifth season of the hit reality TV show “Love Island USA,” the executive producer Simon Thomas had a stroke of luck that most reality show producers could only dream of. It was golden hour, and two of the contestants — attractive young singles looking for love — were sitting on the veranda of the souped-up luxury resort that was the “Love Island” set. Exquisitely framed, they shared a tender, passionate kiss.“Make no mistake: They did not stay together, and they did not even remain together for the duration of the show,” Thomas said in an interview. “But that moment was magic. You couldn’t have filmed it better for a scripted show.”Since its debut on British television in 2015, “Love Island” and its American remake, “Love Island USA,” have made a unique spectacle of their exotic island settings, from the all-inclusive resorts of Majorca (in the U.K. version) to the coastal villas of Fiji (in the U.S., since 2023). The locale is more than a mere backdrop to the action: To invoke an old movie cliché, the setting is like a character itself.“The whole point of this show isn’t to show some reality TV hopefuls in a box and produce them,” Thomas said. “It’s to find some reality TV hopefuls who want to find love and give them an environment in which they can authentically fall in love.”“What better way to fall in love,” he added, “than on a Fijian beach at sunset?”With its breezy tone and low-stakes drama, reality TV is typically designed to create a feeling of escapism already, and tropical settings can offer an additional layer of satisfying secondhand pleasure. Such locations are appealing particularly for dating shows, which have the added incentive of needing to kindle new relationships — an easier feat on a sun-kissed Caribbean island than on a network backlot. Programs like “Bachelor in Paradise,” “Love Island,” “Perfect Match,” “Too Hot to Handle” and many more have found a great deal of success by following this simple formula: Put men and women together on an island resort to flirt and fall in love.The creator of “90 Day Fiancé: Love In Paradise” said the tropical settings give the show “a totally different personality” from the original.TLCWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More