Love Island USA had its most successful season last year, when a mix of casting, drama, game twists and new host Ariana Madix came together to spice up the villa.
The Peacock dating series had many viral moments during Season 6, but it was the double dumping at the hands of the Islanders that shocked the villa to its core.
Following a public vote for their favorite Islanders, six of them were left vulnerable and at risk of being dumped from the show. The remaining Islanders made the ultimate decision, and the outcome was reality TV gold.
“It was crazy. It was crazy to witness, to be honest, and watching them deliberate,” Madix said at Deadline’s Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety event. “In my opinion, there is no show of 2024, scripted or unscripted, that had the year that Love Island USA Season 6 had, and I think that moment right there that you’re talking about is one of the moments that made that a fact of life.”
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It’s not just the viewers at home who enjoy the excitement of the drama unfolding before the cameras but also by everyone involved in production who make the show happen.
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“I think what is exciting about the format is, we are really playing along in real time” showrunner and executive producer Ben Thursby-Palmer said during the panel. “The train leaves the station on Day 1, and we are literally throwing the tracks in front of the train. So when they made that decision, it could have been any of those girls, and then what would have happened? We don’t know what’s going to happen until it happens, so we’re literally in the control room, Ariana is literally standing there waiting for the result, and we’re like, ‘Oh gosh, right now we’re going this way, or now we’re going that way.’ It changes everything.”
The Love Island USA Season 6 cast connected with viewers in a way they had not done in previous seasons, and Danielle Gervais, EVP Casting & Talent at ITV America, explained what they look for when meeting potential Islanders.
“I think we’re always looking for unfiltered Islanders,” she said. “If we don’t, at the end of an interview, feel like we have a great chat with a friend and whether they’re talking to us or they’re talking to their friend or their sisters, they’re the same, then that’s where we go, ‘Oh, I don’t know if they’re right.’ We really just look for people who are comfortable and are themselves, and I think Season 6 … we just feel like we hit the jackpot with the cast, and they really just had the summer of their lives.”
Check back Monday for the panel video.
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