If you’re anything like me, you were obsessed with Love Island USA this summer. It became a routine to make sure I was done with all of my evening tasks by 9 pm so I could watch the latest episode with my roommates. After the show ended, I followed all of my favorites on Instagram and TikTok and anxiously counted down the days until the reunion.
Many of these cast members stayed relevant long after they left the villa. They met up at Gal’s coffee shop, couples posted together, and some even retreated to the Hamptons. As their follower counts climbed, so did their brand deals and partnerships.
This season’s islanders were probably more prepared than past seasons for the attention that comes with the show’s popularity. But even knowing what might be coming, nothing can really prepare an islander for leaving the villa and suddenly being treated like a celebrity, with brand deals, hundreds of thousands of new followers, and the option to quit your day job completely. Season 6, the first US season to really explode in popularity, proved just how fast that shift can happen, and every season since has followed this pattern.
There’s a similar conversation to be had about influencers. Some start out posting simple videos, like a “get ready with me,” a day in my life, storytimes, or skits, and all of a sudden they have enough followers and enough income to quit their day jobs and get recognized in public.
So, this begs the question: Are reality stars and influencers considered celebrities? What defines a celebrity, and how does “fame” factor in?
Some might say that a celebrity is someone with a specific talent: singers, actors, chefs, athletes, and other people who spent years building a skill before anyone paid attention to them. By that definition, someone who spent six weeks on a reality show and walked away with a few hundred thousand followers doesn’t really fit. They didn’t “earn” fame in that sense. Fans loved their presence on screen, but they don’t necessarily have a “skill” to point to.
But that definition feels incomplete once you look at what some of these reality stars and influencers actually do with the platform they’re handed. Take Alix Earle. She built her name on “get ready with me” videos, but she’s used that same following to found Meals in Heels, a recurring event that’s brought together thousands of meals for underserved communities in Miami. She’s also fostered multiple shelter dogs, including a pitbull mix named Asia who’d spent nearly 500 days waiting to be adopted, and used her platform to help other dogs find homes too. None of that happens without the following she gets dismissed for having in the first place.
The same goes for Love Island alums. Kaylor Martin from Season 6 didn’t expect her 30 days in the villa to turn into a career, but two years later she’s hosting her own podcast and landing brand partnerships with companies like Turtle Wax. She’s using a following she built almost by accident to build something that looks a lot like a sustainable career, and honestly, a lot like what any “traditional” celebrity does.
This is where the confusion really sets in. Fans were baffled when Alix Earle was cast on Dancing with the Stars. The show is literally called Dancing with the Stars, and a lot of people didn’t think posting “get ready with me” videos qualified someone as a “star.” But isn’t that kind of the point? If millions of people recognize your face and care what you post, are you not, by definition, famous? Whether that fame is “earned” the way a Grammy or an Oscar is earned might be a totally different question, and maybe one that doesn’t have a clean answer.
The numbers back up just how real this fame is. Love Island USA Season 8, which aired in June and July of 2026, pulled in an estimated 7.9 million viewers on Peacock. Islanders left the villa shocked to find they’d gained over a million followers in a matter of weeks. The show sparked endless conversation across social media, from who’s the favorite islander this season to bigger topics like how male and female contestants are treated so differently once they leave the show.
So, are reality stars celebrities? I think the answer depends less on how someone became famous and more on what they do once they get there. Talent might get you in the door the old-fashioned way, but a platform, however you got it, gives you a choice. Maybe that’s the real dividing line between a celebrity and someone who’s just famous. It’s not about what got them there, it’s about what they do once the cameras are gone.