Love Island and the Obvious

an essay by Sarita Donaie

I’ve fallen into a rabbit hole of binge-watching reality programs; first, it was the Real Housewives franchise, and now I’ve welcomed Love Island into my life.

Originating in United Kingdom, Love Island is known for its ever-changing setting, from locations like America and overseas to countries like Australia, France, Spain, etc. Each setting introduces the viewers to an equally vibrant cast within the culturally vibrant franchise. Men and women—some with queer backgrounds, some entering the villa never having had a romantic relationship—are given the chance to find love and remain in the villa in hopes of winning $100,000 with their romantic partner. The concept seems simple and relaxing as the primary contestants, comprised chiefly of desirable social media influencers, are flown to exotic countries with beautiful sandy beaches and perfect blue skies. However, as the bold Scottish narrator states, “There’s trouble in the villa,” as relationships aren’t happening immediately, and the contestants are increasingly reminded to explore other romantic options.

Romantic exploration of the Love Island villa causes more issues than connections. The female contestants enter the villa and immediately believe they have found their partner. The male contestants, however, are the prominent supporters of the flirting and openness required to participate correctly, also known as chatting, thus emphasizing their openness and, more importantly, indecisiveness. The female contestants have more ambition toward their initially coupled partner; however, that doesn’t stop them from re-coupling without hesitation as soon as they notice their partner pulling away. More notably, the male contestants are the first within the couple to suggest romantic involvement with other female contestants they weren’t initially coupled with. Due to this, I’ve realized that male contestants are understood to move on quickly when there is no romantic spark. In contrast, female contestants are steadily emotionally connected to who they are initially coupled with unless there’s a mutual agreement between the couple to split and talk to other islanders. The spark develops naturally as the female contestants stay in the villa.

Unfortunately, not all contestants can stay in the villa long enough to make stable and impactful connections. Too dull, you're booted off the island; too reserved, you're booted off the island; too unserious, you’re booted off the island. The social rules are unspoken but understandable to some: be outgoing, prove that you want to find a partner through intimate games between the contestants, and then you might win $100,000 with your romantic partner. However, the reasons such social rules often lead to unhappy contestants vary, such as those who can stay together long enough even as other more desirable and engaging contestants sweet-talk them with consistent flirting.

The villa separates the contestants from the world of social media and forces them to focus on each other and the relationships they create. They know little about who enters the villa and wonder whether someone will be booted unexpectedly. Chatting is crucial because it helps the contestants determine who is worth the time and who isn’t. Chatting is essential to Love Island but is mostly used to determine the audience’s favorite contestant. This article will not touch on audience voting because I do not feel that the audience’s input significantly influences the contestant’s relationships. My overall interest surrounds how each contestant chooses to move on to another contestant.

Romantic exploration within Love Island differs significantly between men and women; this isn’t surprising as one of the in-show highlights for many male and female contestants is who will be the first to have sex in the Hideaway, a private room available to the contestant after the first 2-3 weeks and reserved for a couple in a relationship, whether that time spent in the Hideaway is sexual or not is usually discussed the morning after within gendered groups. The Love Island writers rely on any sexual tension for the sake of popularity, as the woman chosen for the Hideaway is told to dress in lingerie.

Men within the show usually approach women they are interested in physically with a lack of in-depth emotional discussions; meanwhile, the women will take the emotional route by chatting and openly mentioning negative past relationships as examples of what they hope won’t occur between them and their chosen partner; this is usually cheating. Women are depicted as more emotional than men, and Love Island loves to play into that stereotype by highlighting each scenario where their partner has done anything similar to cheating. Due to this, male contestants feel that the female contestants are too paranoid and unwilling to allow their partners to chat with other female contestants. The men are swift to state a woman’s security in a relationship, claiming that it should be shown through how unbothered she is towards a partner chatting with other female contestants. However, men often direct harmful remarks to women if they show any kind of interest to other male contestants. Then suddenly, chatting with someone while committed to another isn’t fair.

Love Island actively cycles in new contestants if a male contestant is booted out of the villa due to an unexpected re-coupling that unfortunately leaves one person uncoupled. Being uncoupled results in different outcomes; some are immediately booted, but others may be given another chance with new incoming contestants. New contestants entering the villa during an already active season are significant to the continuation of the show's popularity, and introducing new contestants will increase audience ratings. The show's method of deciding which gender enters the villa, male or female, is unknown; however, the responses from the current contestant are always the same as new contestants are met with hostility and suspicion from the same gendered group.

New contestants are welcomed but immediately labeled as a distraction or possible new partner for the other contestants they’ve already expressed romantic interest in. Creating shifts between the gendered groups keeps the show interesting and the challenges more personal as the current couples consider the new contestants to be rivals.