It’s billed as the island to find love if you are willing to get grafting and put all your eggs in one basket.
But season 7 of dating show Love Island USA was more like ‘Toxic Island’ by the time the finale rolled around on July 13 as there were no official couples in the top four and two contestants had been removed from the show after their previous disgusting social media posts resurfaced.
The toxicity and poor communication skills floating around the reality TV show villa created an environment in which it was impossible to foster real connections – not unlike today’s real life dating scene, according to psychologists.
Daily Mail spoke to psychologists and relationship experts who revealed why, despite the car crash relationships that played out on screens, the show proved so popular and drew in more viewers than ever this season and saw hundreds of watch parties pop-up at bars and restaurants across the country.
Dr. Marni Feuerman, a licensed psychotherapist and relationship expert, explained that, when people are suffering publicly – like after a car crash on the side of the road, people can’t help but watch.
‘They’re wanting to see it for themselves,’ Feuerman said. When we see other people posting about drama and turmoil, we want to experience it too, hence why more and more people were tuning into Love Island this year.
The toxicity and poor communication skills floating around the Love Island villa this summer created an environment in which it was impossible to foster real connections – not unlike today’s real life dating scene
The premises: a group of hot singles are trapped (willingly) in a villa for weeks and encouraged to explore romantic connections with each other – all the while, new contestants are being brought onto the ‘island’ and old ones are being kicked off
Feuerman explained that the toxicity viewers witnessed on Love Island is not all that different to what’s going on in modern dating in the real world. She said: ‘There’s a lot of very hot and cold behaviors – almost like ghosting.’
The premise of the show sees a group of hot singles willingly trapped in a villa for weeks to explore romantic connections with each other as the audience can help vote contestants off the show to make way for new ones. At the end, one lucky couple who wins the public vote scores $100,000 and guaranteed social media stardom.
Feuerman described how the premise of the show is similar to ‘swiping mentality’ that has become common with the rise of dating apps.
‘I think there’s a bit of a swiping culture mentality – we see the contestants quickly couple up and uncouple and recouple. There’s this sort of disposable nature,’ she told Daily Mail.
She likened some of the behaviors exhibited by islanders to ‘love bombing’, saying, ‘There’s very rapid intensification early on. Some couples are saying they love each other right away, but really it’s infatuation. And then, when the dust settles, there’s a lot of instability and stress,’ which is also common in real life dating experiences, Feuerman says.
Earlier this month Peacock revealed that Season 7 has officially become the platform’s most-watched entertainment series on mobile devices, with nearly 30 percent of viewership happening on phones and tablets.
The top three couples from last July’s final are still together over a year later: first place winners Serena Page and Kordell Beckham (C), runners up Leah Kateb and Miguel Harichi (R) and third place winners JaNa Craig and Kenny Rodriguez (L) are all going strong
And since relaunching the app in May ahead of Season 7, it has averaged more than 100,000 new unique users per day and latest figures as of July 8 show it had surpassed 5.5 million unique users in total.
On July 25th, it was announced that Season 7 was Peacock’s most-watched original ever, with a total of 18.4 billion minutes viewed. Peacock also reported that 49 percent of the audience were first-time watchers.
Psychologists say that what kept viewers watching this year was the relentless drama and the fact that the audience had chance to direct the narrative with brutal public voting.
In episode 12, the public voted to interfere with a couple, consisting of Jeremiah Brown and Huda Mustafa, by choosing him to ‘re–couple’ with a ‘bombshell’ new contestant.
Viewers knew that this would cause Huda great distress because of her intense attachment to Jeremiah at that point in the show, yet they did it anyway.
Therapist Jennifer Ochiagha explained that viewers want to have power over the show.
Once it was a trending opinion online that Jeremiah was a victim in his relationship, fans wanted to give him an ‘out’, Ochiagha said.
What kept viewers watching this year was the relentless drama – from full–force crash–outs to brutal dumpings, fans kept on tuning in because the downfalls of this year’s contestants were too epic to miss
Many issues in the villa stemmed from islanders’ unresolved attachment styles, and how those styles showed up under pressure, according to mental health professional Jennifer Ochiagha (Pictured: The original Season 7 Love Island girls)
Ochiagha explained that audience members become attached to certain characters because they want to relate their own lives to the contestants. ‘People want to see themselves in somebody,’ she said.
Ochiagha went on to divulge that many issues in the villa stemmed from islanders’ unresolved attachment styles, and how those styles showed up under pressure.
‘We saw a lot of avoidant and anxious behaviors play out in real time. Some islanders would shut down when things got too real, while others clung harder for reassurance, and I think that’s a clear example of how unhealed attachment can impact communication and trust,’ the therapist said.
‘Anxiety and avoidance playing out in real time was the most common theme I saw,’ she continued.
This season was also marred with controversy. Within the first two days, contestant Yulissa Escobar was kicked out of the villa after a video of her saying a racial slur re–surfaced.
The revelation of this clip begged the question: how thoroughly are Love Island producers vetting their contestants. This question would come up time and time again throughout the season.
Psychologists say that what kept viewers watching this year was the relentless drama and the fact that the audience had chance to direct the narrative with brutal public voting (Pictured: Love Island USA host Ariana Madix along with winners Amaya and Bryan)
Psychologist Dr. Marni Feuerman explained that the toxicity viewers witnessed on Love Island is not all that different to what’s going on in modern dating in the real world (Pictured: Season 7 winners Amaya Espinal and Bryan Arenales)
One X user wrote, ‘i think this season of love island usa’s downfall was a combination of the producers not doing basic background checks and the fans being psychotic.’
Another posted, ‘How some of these Love Island USA contestants only getting caught making racist comments? Who did background checks this year? This is crazy!’
‘So this season of Love Island USA they just didn’t do background checks,’ said another.
Towards the end of the season, producers had to force the exit of another contestant – Cierra Ortega.
An old social media post of Ortega using a slur circulated online. Internet users called for the producer’s removal of Cierra, and when they did, what awaited her on the outside was a concerning mountain of online hate.
Her family had to release a statement begging viewers to ease off.
Once Ortega, 25, was shipped back from Fiji to California, she shared some of the messages cluttering her inbox that were verbally abusing her.
This raises the question of how well islanders are taken care off after they leave the island.
According to Vogue, there is a full team supporting cast members before, during and after filming. Islanders have access to – on top of producers, managers and HR – a duty of care representative, two on–site licensed psychologists and a full–time welfare manager who oversees the daily care of participants.
Huda revealed on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast (pictured) that she had an ‘extremely abusive’ childhood
Before selection, potential islanders go through multiple rounds of assessments with a psychologist to get a full understanding of their background and mental health.
Each contestant is required to get a letter from their doctors giving them the okay to go on the show, according to a TikTok made by season 4 contestant Deb Chubb.
Then, once officially picked for the show, islanders are assigned a psychologist who is there for them throughout their time in the villa.
After leaving the villa, islanders go through an offboarding process – which consists of two meetings with a psychologist before going home, and follow–ups at least once a month for up to six months.
When Huda – who is a 24–year–old single mother – started exhibiting worrying behaviors on the show, viewers once again wondered if the pre–filming examinations were rigorous enough.
These concerns were confirmed when, after coming out of the villa, Huda revealed on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast that she had an ‘extremely abusive’ childhood.
‘When I was in middle school, there was a point where I wanted to take my own life. I did not want to live anymore,’ she told Cooper. The 24–year–old explained that, because of those traumatic early experiences, many things in the villa ‘triggered’ her.
Ochiagha says it’s extremely important for islanders to have access to a mental health professional – or even reality TV support groups – after the show to ‘handle the new hate’, and prepare for seeing themselves back on camera in the same way millions of eyes saw them.
The importance of continued support for islanders after the show is especially pertinent given the three suicides of cast members from Love Island UK. Contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis have both taken their lives since being on the show, as has the former host, Caroline Flack.
Daily Mail reached out to Love Island USA for further comment.
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or actions, please call the National Suicide Hotline at 988
