Help, I’ve Lost My Partner To Love Island USA

By all accounts, Love Island USA is a cultural phenomenon. The hit reality dating series airs five nights a week on Peacock (six, if you count the weekly talk show Aftersun), which means keeping up is basically a full-time job — and plenty of people are clocking in. Season 7, which started airing in June and is once again hosted by Ariana Madix, has broken streaming records and infiltrated nearly every part of the internet, from viral “mamacita” memes to major brands imagining collabs based on the contestants. If you don’t know “Amaya Papaya” or “Nicolandria” by now, you’re living in an alternate universe... or maybe you just have a healthy digital footprint.

Still, when Love Island touches down in your household, there’s no escape. Here, the partners of four superfans tell Bustle how the show has taken over their lives.

“I’ll be half asleep, and I can still hear the jingle.”

Benji, 34, Worcester, Massachusetts

My wife loves reality TV. She did manage to sucker me into Love Island USA last summer because it was always on in the house — and I admit, I became pretty invested. But then I watched the reunion special and thought it was probably the worst hour and a half of TV I’d ever seen in my life. There was no structure, just them eating Pizza Hut and shouting at each other. So this season, I decided to skip it. But she still watches it every night in our room.

She treats the episodes like appointment television — there’s no watching it the next day. I have to get up at 5 a.m. on Saturday for work, so on Friday nights I’ll be like, “Are you ready for bed?” She’s like, “No, after Love Island.” If we’re out for a date night and get home late, I’ll get in bed at 11, and she’s like, “No, Love Island first.” I’ll be half asleep in that mix between a dream and reality, and I can still hear the jingle.

I don’t know much about this year’s contestants, but she follows them on Instagram and fills me in on the tea. I know there’s a guy named Austin who sounds like a more insufferable Nicolas Cage. I hear him talk, and I’m thinking, “Why is the guy from National Treasure trying to pick up women?” She’s like, “Oh yeah, we don’t like him.” Who’s we? “America.” He was recently kicked out for being a least favorite. Also, Ace — who the hell tattoos their own name on their back? It’s not like he can look at it if he ever forgets it.

Even though I’m not watching this time around, I can absolutely see the appeal. But it does interfere with my sleep.

“I haven’t seen any of my shows for as long as it’s been on.”

Daniel, 37, Houston

When I come home at night, my partner will be posted up on the couch with a cocktail, and Love Island is always on. I catch parts of it — she’ll be yelling at the TV about the decisions made or commentating on everybody’s reactions. But by the end of the episode, I’m sitting down because I have to know what’s going on. You don’t really have a choice. It’s like watching a car wreck — you have to look and see what happens.

Three episodes into this season, she said she was boycotting it because it wasn’t very good. An hour later she was like, “The new episode’s on tonight. I’m making popcorn.” What happened to the whole boycott thing? “Well, I can’t now, I’m invested.” Then a couple weeks ago, we had friends over to play board games, and she stopped everything and said, “Guys, we’ve got to go watch Love Island. You’re going to love this.” At first, everyone thought it was terrible, but by the time it ended, everyone had very polarizing opinions on the entire cast, and that became our whole night.

The season ends this weekend, so life will go back to normal — but I’m sure she’ll have withdrawals and will try to find some other TV show to fill the void. I haven’t seen any of my shows for as long as it’s been on. I’ve been trying to watch Murderbot — I love horror and action movies — but I’m a little behind on everything now. Still, at least I know the cast, and I’ll be rooting for Amaya to win.

“I ask, ‘How was your day?’ And she just tells me what happened on Love Island.”

James, 38, New York

We know the routine at this point: I come in to find her in bed, cozied up watching this thing every night. From a sheer scheduling perspective, it’s such a commitment. I did watch an entire season of Love Island U.K., but we got so behind we’d have to bang out a bunch of episodes in a row. I don’t know how people keep up with it.

I’ll ask her the nightly question of, “What happened? Give me the rundown.” It’s like that scene in The Office where Jim asks Kelly, “What’s going on?” And she’s like, “Oh my God, Brad Pitt and Angelina broke up.” I ask, “How was your day?” And she just tells me what happened on Love Island. When Jim follows up like, “Yeah, but how are you?” Kelly’s like, “I just told you.” That’s the same situation I’m in right now.

One night I came in and it looked like she was crying watching it. I was like, “Are you OK? This is trending toward emotional distress.” She votes on these things. One night she missed the vote and was distraught. But I understand. It’s a rollercoaster, and you’ve got to see it through. I need to get her “I voted for Love Island” stickers so that she can virtue-signal to all the other fans.

I get the cast members’ names wrong all the time, and that’s always a point of contention between us. It’s like I need to learn her family member’s names. The mommy/mamacita meme feels like a part of my life now too, and I absolutely love the narrator — she’ll rewind episodes to let me listen to funny things he says. The other night she was like, “Can I pull you for a chat?” I was like, “This is enough.” It’s all good fun, but I’ll be happy when it’s over.

“Who is Amaya Papaya? You talk about her as if she is a close friend.”

Carter, 33, Bay Area

My partner is on a first-name basis with reality stars, to the point where I’m used to trying to figure out if he’s talking about someone on TV or one of our actual friends when we’re catching up about our days. He got really into Love Island this season through a group chat of reality TV-watching pals, and suddenly it felt like he was speaking a different language.

I tried to watch the beginning of it, but I could not lock in — there was so much of it. Some of those episodes push past an hour! But he saw the appeal right away, and all of a sudden I’m like, “Who is Amaya Papaya? You talk about her as if she is a close friend.”

At first I was unprepared for the amount of space it took up in our relationship. He needs to be seated at 8:35 p.m., because that’s when it usually gets uploaded to Peacock, even though it’s not officially on until 9. I remember joking to him, “When will I have you back?” He was like, “Oh no — as soon as this is over, I’m watching the U.K. seasons. This is the greatest show ever, and it will be in my life forever.” I was like, “Oh God, I’ve lost my partner to Love Island!”

However, I’ve come around to the role it plays in his life. For an hour a day, multiple times a week, he’s occupied and does not need my attention. I’m happy to see him enthusiastic about something, even if I don’t get it. I also feel like I’ve gained hours of time during the week, and I’ve started filling it with other projects. I’ll do stuff around the house, catch up on work, or read a book in another room.

It’s now at the point where I’m a little sad Love Island is coming to an end, because I’ve come to look forward to that extra hour of doing whatever I want. I’ll miss it. But I’m mostly just happy for him that he has Amaya Papaya.

These interviews have been condensed and edited for clarity.