Peacock is releasing its latest season of Love Island USA, starting this week, with near-daily episode rollouts all through June. The reality dating competition series continues to follow the formula of its beloved British counterpart as a brand new crew of 10 attractive singles head to Fiji to chase a nice cash prize… and also maybe love. TV personality and model Ariana Madix returns to host a seventh season that looks to bring the heat like never before.
LOVE ISLAND USA (SEASON 7): STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: Scenes of Fiji are interwoven with clips of this season’s cast lip-syncing and dancing to Janelle Monaé’s “Make Me Feel.” The montage caps off with host Ariana Madix on the beach looking into the camera to declare that this season will be “bigger, bolder, and ready to bring the heat!”
The Gist: Filmed in near-real time and airing a whopping six days per week, Love Island USA brings 10 spicy singles to Fiji to compete in pairs for $100,000 shared by whoever America votes to be the sole winning couple. This season’s set features new additions of a sauna, speakeasy, and photobooth, and the 85 hidden cameras and 17 microphones ensure that no matter where the islanders go, they will always be seen and heard. It’s kind of creepy, but hey, they’re the ones who signed up for it!
Ariana Madix returns for her second season of hosting duties, along with Scottish comedian Iain Stirling back for his fourth season as the show’s quippy narrator. Love Island USA: Season 7 welcomes an interesting assortment of islanders with some big personalities and entertaining interactions right off the bat.
The women arrive first, introducing 27-year-old day trader Chelley, 27-year-old elevator and escalator industry worker Olandria, 24-year-old fitness coach Huda, 22-year-old Christian Hawaii resident Belle-A, and 27-year-old mobile bar owner Melissa. Then we get the guys: 22-year-old dancer Ace, 24-year-old registered nurse Nic, 24-year-old rodeo competitor Taylor, 26-year-old pool boy (pool man?) Austin, and 25-year-old cateter and model Jeremiah.
After their initial introductions, the ladies each get a chance to kiss (or heavily make out) with two guys of their choice before picking one to couple up with. They go one at a time in order of whose name is randomly drawn from a bag, with Chelley up first. Chelley sets the tone with steamy smooches to Austin and then Ace, ultimately picking Ace, in large part due to the fact that they kind of know each other in real life after meeting outside of a club this past January. Huda’s next, kissing Jeremiah, then Ace, before deciding on Jeremiah.
Belle-A decides to throw a curve ball by opting for cheek kisses from Taylor and Nic due to her “no kissing on the first date” policy, before she opts for Nic. Olandria then turns the temperature back up by making out with Taylor and Nic before picking Taylor. And then last up is Yulissa, who has a long makeout session with Ace before she goes up to Jeremiah, only for him to kiss her on the cheek, prompting Ace to admit, “I fucked up” as Chelley sideeyes him.
Yulissa picks Ace, forcing Chelley to end up with Austin, and already making for a messy start to everyone’s first day. After that, the couples get to know each other, with some more excited than others. Yulissa, for example, is very into Ace, while he and Chelley still seem to have a lingering attraction to one another leftover from their flirty IRL meeting that fizzled into long-distance DMs.
Even though she didn’t kiss him, Nic finds Belle-A attractive, but he’s also interested in Olandria. Olandria and Taylor seem happy with each other as they bond over their mutual Southernness and shared love of fishing and enchiladas. Then there’s Huda and Jeremiah, who seem to have the most initial chemistry of all, but whose future together already seems tenuous as they each keep potentially deal-breaking secrets: Huda is a single mom, and Jeremiah is a self-proclaimed reformed cheater.
As if things weren’t already tangled and chaotic enough, Day 2 gives the islanders a chance to kiss whoever they want in (relative) secrecy, as the couples all sit in a circle blindfolded. Only Ace, Chelley, Olandria, and Nic raise their hands, opting to make out with other people, but everyone ultimately ends up kissed due to the arrival of bombshells Cierra and Charlie, shaking things up even more. At the end of Day 1, the ladies agreed to be “girls’ girls” who are open with each other, but with the entrance of a fiery new woman in the mix, we’ll see how long that lasts. All we know is that if Episode 1 is this wild, the rest of the season is sure to be one to remember.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of?: In addition to the O.G. British Love Island, Love Island USA will call to mind other deliciously drama-filled reality dating shows like FBoy Island, Too Hot To Handle, Temptation Island, and Bachelor In Paradise.
Our Take: From the opening lip-sync video to the slo-mo intros to most of the words out of the men’s mouths, Love Island USA is cringey reality TV at its peak. I’ve never even seen any iteration of Love Island before and am not usually into shows like this, but even I found it compelling. Within just the span of one episode, I got invested despite myself and am definitely curious for more.
These producers definitely know what they need to do to pull viewers in. Even just from the casting alone, you’ve got two people who have met (and exchanged flirty DMs) before, an admitted cheater, a single mom, a 22-year-old Christian who wants to take things slow, and at least two people that the internet has already deemed cancellable. It’s just so messy you can’t help but watch, even when it’s raunchy or embarrassing. Maybe those moments make the whole thing feel voyeuristic and taboo, and that’s the biggest draw of all. People like seeing a budding romance story almost as much as they love seeing chaotic people crash and burn.
Love Island USA: Season 7 adds to the chaos with a cast of women who are mostly baddies standing out amongst some pretty mid and untrustworthy guys, already setting the scene for tumultuous twosomes and bad breakups. None of these initial couples seem super likely to last, but you just know that no matter what they do from here, it’s going to be extremely entertaining to behold.
Sex and Skin: There’s a lot of skin and plenty of heavy makeouts, but no sex or total nudity in this episode. Anything can happen later on in the season, though, so viewer discretion is definitely advised.
Parting Shot: The islanders sit in a circle wearing blindfolds, and everyone gets the chance to secretly smooch anyone they want. Not everyone partakes, but after two bombshells enter the villa, every single contestant ends up receiving a kiss. Once the bombshells are sent away, everyone is informed of their presence in the villa, much to their surprise. Ariana instructs the islanders to put their blindfolds back on and raise their hands if they want to get to know the bombshell better… and the episode ends. Uh oh, I smell trouble ahead!
Performance Worth Watching: While there are definitely multiple people that make an impression, single-mom Huda particularly stands out due to her good energy and secret single-mom storyline. She seems sincere in her search for a stable and lasting partner, but will she find a guy like that on this show? I guess we can only wait and see.
Memorable Dialogue: When introducing himself to the world, Ace makes it clear that he’s not scared to date a taller woman: “I don’t care if you’re 6’2″, 6’3″, I’ll chop that tree. I’m gonna be like a little chihuahua on a great dane.”
Our Call: Whether you’re a dedicated fan willing to commit to watching every six-hour-plus-long episode every week or just a casual viewer wanting to catch an episode here and there, Love Island USA: Season 7 has enough marvelous messiness for everyone to enjoy. It’s pure summer sexiness, ridiculousness, and fun, that at the very least will make for some entertaining viewing for you and your friends over the next few months. STREAM IT!
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