Love Island, aka my newest obsession
I spent an admittedly large chunk of my spring break this year binge-watching the latest season of Love Island UK. It was my first time watching a full season of it, and oh my goodness was I fascinated with the format of the show! I expected it to be really similar to Bachelor in Paradise, with the basic premise being that you put a bunch of gorgeous people on a beach and have them couple up. If I’m being honest, I was a little put off from the show when I first heard about it, because I couldn’t understand why they make the girls wear bikinis on day one when literally no one ever gets in the pool. So, it sort of seemed like they were over-sexualizing the cast. But alas, it turned out to be fairly wholesome and the absolute best type of reality tv.
How the show is filmed/aired
The thing that surprised me the most about the show was that, unlike Bachelor in Paradise, it was filmed and aired in real time. As in, they didn’t film/edit it first for a few months and then release it in weekly parts like most shows do. Rather, viewers were only a day or so behind on what was happening at the villa. This season the rotating cast of islanders were there for 6 weeks (43 days), with a total of 36 episodes. The seriality of this show is honestly fascinating. I was shocked when I first learned that it aires five days a week, since most shows, reality or otherwise, only release one episode a week.
The show involves a number of games/challenges, but one in particular highlighted the fact that viewers are watching in real time. It was called the “news splash” challenge, and islanders were given real news headlines written about them during the airing of the show. The names in the headlines were covered and they played a challenge where they had to guess who the headline was about and get dunked in a tank of water if they were wrong. It was a glimpse into the outside world, and even allowed them to find out things about each other that they wouldn’t have otherwise until they went back home. Needless to say, it stirred up a little bit of drama. (This is reality tv, after all). New islanders entering the villa are also watching the show in real time before they come in, so they’re caught up with what’s been going on and who’s coupled up with who.
Viewer Engagement
While I was watching the show on Hulu after it had already aired, I saw that at the end of a lot of the episodes, viewers were asked to go on the Love Island app and vote for which couples they wanted to stay on the show. The couples with the fewest votes risked getting eliminated from the show. At the end of the next episode, the cast would gather around the fire pit and take turn reading text messages letting them know who the public voted to save. The show would change up the format of this so you never knew exactly what was going to happen and how many couples would be eliminated. A lot of the times the islanders were then forced to vote between the two couples with the fewest votes from the public, and then the couple with the fewest votes would be sent home. I felt really bad for the islanders in these moments, because while they are on a tv show, they’re being made to vote their friends off. It’s not a situation that I would want to be in… but it does make for good tv.
I found it really cool that viewers had a say in the progress of the show. Because of viewer engagement, it feels like there is a fluidity in the seriality. It ups the stakes and keeps people watching because if they don’t keep up with it, their favorite islanders might get voted off. People feel more connected to the show in this way.
The first time someone tried to explain Love Island to me, I just really didn’t get the appeal. It seemed like way too much of a time commitment to watch it every night, five days a week, for six weeks. I was told about the app and how viewers get to decide things, but again, I didn’t see the big deal. But after it was recommended again and I had the free time to watch an entire season, I decided to give it a shot and I’m really glad I did. The format of it was really interesting and engaging, and people really did fall in love on the show! (Siannise and Luke T, anyone? They’re just so sweet together!!). If you have the time, I’d definitely recommend giving it a go. If I’m ever in England again while it’s airing I’ll be sure to watch it in real time as it’s intended and get the full serial experience.
Thanks for reading! Until tomorrow,
Dessi