How Big Is ‘Love Island USA’? More Than 10 Million People Are Already on Its App
Key takeaways
- Fans of the real-time dating show relish controlling the action through their in-app votes, helping decide who couples up and who gets dumped.
- While the main use of the app is for voting, users can also scroll through an Instagram-like feed of video clips, photo shoots, and polls.
- The Love Island USA app now has more than 10 million unique users, the show’s producers tell WIRED.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
LOVE ISLAND USA.PHOTOGRAPH: Peacock/Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story String bikinis? Check. Extra sunscreen? Check. Walls of cameras so millions of Americans can watch your spicy summer flings happen in real time? Check. Love Island USA, where contestants make out, couple up, and fight while lounging around a neon-colored villa in swimwear, is currently nearing the ‘climax’ of its eighth season. This summer’s biggest bombshell? The Love Island USA app, where levels of viewer engagement are so high that it crashed during the first vote.
Fans of the real-time dating show relish controlling the action through their in-app votes, helping decide who couples up and who gets dumped. Fan votes happen around five times during each season, and aren't announced ahead of time. The votes let users pick their favorite couple, which exiled cast members they think should be brought back, and eventually cast a vote for which Islander pair should win the popularity contest and $100,000. Earlier in this season, for example, the duos who received the fewest votes from viewers for "favorite couple" were on the chopping block to be booted off the show.
While the main use of the app is for voting, users can also scroll through an Instagram-like feed of video clips, photo shoots, and polls. And, of course, the Love Island USA app includes shopping links so the most fervent viewers can snatch some merch.