“Love Island USA,” the reality dating series that smashed viewership records for Peacock last summer and became an unavoidable cultural event, returns with a new season Tuesday night—but not without controversy, as one islander has already been booted from the show for past use of a racial slur.
"Love Island USA" returns Tuesday night on Peacock with Ariana Madix as host. — (Photo by: Ben Symons/Peacock via Getty Images)
Ben Symons/Peacock via Getty Images
Vasana Montgomery, a 25-year-old from Oregon, won’t be part of the cast of the eighth season of “Love Island USA” as planned when the hugely popular reality show returns Tuesday night after videos surfaced of her using a slur against Black people.
Peacock confirmed Montgomery was dropped from the show, and the New York Times reported the videos were privately owned and were not released until after her casting was announced, making it inaccessible while the program vetted contestants.
Montgomery’s dismissal is the latest such incident for the reality show, which is no stranger to controversy: Last summer, two contestants were removed from the villa while the show was airing after previous instances of them using racial slurs resurfaced on social media.
Another season eight contestant, 29-year-old Sean Reifel, is in hot water in his native Pennsylvania after the mayor of Bethlehem, J. William Reynolds, alleged Reifel ditched his job as a police officer to appear on the show, contributing to a short-staffing problem.
The city paid “thousands of taxpayer dollars to send him to the police academy,” Reynolds told local outlet WHTM, saying he is “disappointed” Reifel left because the city now has “another vacancy in our department that is impossible to fill until next year.”
Possibly bracing for another summer of what some described as a “toxic” fan response to last season, the show posted a statement on Instagram last week urging fans to “keep it positive” with their commentary, saying “everyone deserves to feel safe and respected.”
The first episode of “Love Island USA” season eight will premiere Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST on Peacock. Episodes will air daily except Wednesdays, while new episodes of the “Love Island: Aftersun” recap show will air Saturdays.
“Love Island USA” burst into the mainstream last year, as season seven became Peacock’s biggest-ever reality show and the most-watched original streaming series of the year across all platforms. Viewership rose 150% year-over-year, Luminate said in an annual report, and “Love Island USA” became the first unscripted series to top Luminate’s annual ranking. During its six-week run last year, “Love Island USA” was streamed for 18.4 billion total minutes, Peacock said. The show garnered a fervent fan base, becoming a viral sensation on TikTok and inspiring watch parties at bars nationwide.
Season seven contestants Yulissa Escobar and Cierra Ortega were removed from the show during filming after videos resurfaced of them using racial slurs. Escobar was removed in the show’s second episode after a video of her using the N-word surfaced, and she apologized in social media posts following her exit while also condemning viewers who made it their “mission to break people down, not just me, but everyone who stepped into that villa.” Ortega was booted about a month into the season after a video of her using a slur against Chinese people surfaced, sparking viewer backlash and demands to remove her from the show. Ortega said in a social media post she agreed with the decision to remove her from the villa, but said there is “no need to fight hate with hate” and urged viewers to let her “grow with grace.” The online fan response to last year’s edition also drew condemnation from the show’s cast and crew, who said fan behavior sometimes went too far. The Instagram page for Chelley Bissainthe, a contestant on season seven, shared a post criticizing viewers “coming on her page to tear her down” while she was on the show, saying the “level of hostility, especially toward someone isolated from the outside world, is disturbing.” Ariana Madix, the “Vanderpump Rules” star who hosts “Love Island USA,” said last year there is a “beautiful way to engage with the ‘Love Island’ fan community without doxing and harassing cast members,” saying anyone who behaves like that is not a real fan.
“Love Island USA” is a spinoff of the original United Kingdom version, which aired two seasons in 2005 and 2006 before returning in 2015. “Love Island U.K.” The show follows contestants who all reside in a constantly-filmed villa as they couple up with one another and participate in challenges, with the winning couple receiving a cash prize. It became a cultural phenomenon in the U.K., but it also sparked controversy as three people affiliated with the show, including two former contestants and former host Caroline Flack, died by suicide, prompting a parliamentary committee to launch an inquiry.
How ‘Love Island’ Became the Streaming Hit Peacock Needed (Wall Street Journal)
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