‘Love Island’ is a reality TV series that has taken 2025 by storm. Originally a British dating show, ‘Love Island’ has many spin-offs that continue to occupy our screens throughout the year. Islanders are sent to live in a villa where they are meant to explore connections and couple up with one another. Bombshells are then sent in to stir up relationships and break up existing couples. The biggest test occurs midway through the season, when the couples are separated into different villas and introduced to a whole set of new singles. More formally known as Casa Amor. The public can actively participate in the villa’s happenings by voting for their favorite girl, favorite boy, and favorite couple. Although I usually indulge in ‘Love Island’ to switch my brain off, I’ve found myself more alert nowadays as I draw parallels between what I see on screen and in real life.
I consider myself somewhat of a professional ‘Love Island’ watcher. Unfortunately, I am not worthy of the title of ‘OG’ because my interest only sparked in Season 5 after it had a cameo in Euphoria, and I was curious to know what reality TV show is so good that it causes a character to binge-watch to a point where they end up getting kidney stones – thank you, Rue. Since then, I’ve gone through multiple summer seasons, the winter seasons – filmed in Cape Town – and the all-star seasons. And yes, I’ve witnessed every season that Casey Morgan was on.
However, I never grew attached to Love Island USA. From my understanding, their version of an island was a villa in Las Vegas, and I was not willing to swap the Mallorca villa I’d come to know. However, Season 6 skyrocketed the popularity of Love Island USA, and it was all over social media. Without watching a single episode, you would learn of Rob’s sassiness and meltdown in the pool, the friends-to-lovers arc that was Serena and Kordell, and the revolutionary bombshell that was Miguel. Knowing that I didn’t want to fall behind once again, I ran to tune in to Season 7 daily. My Love Island homework consisted of going on Twitter and sending TikToks to my friends who were also watching.
In an external interview, Ian Sterling, the host, commented on how Love Island has changed and that we will get to witness Generation Z dating on reality TV. Watching the season felt familiar, like witnessing a friend experience the world. And seeing it on the big screen made me realise how casual dating has changed relationships in our generation. So, without further ado, let’s dive into growing trends in modern dating as presented by the cast of ‘Love Island USA’ season 7.
- One foot in, one foot out
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“Keeping your options open” and “exploring your other connections” were the taglines of this season. This agenda was pushed so much by Ace that at some point, I was convinced that he was a secret producer.
The objective of dating is an exploration of potential partners. It is an opportunity to learn about yourself, the way you give love and affection, and the way you hope to receive it. It is only through exploration that you learn what you want from a partner and the type of person you are suited to be with. In dating shows, however, this objective is amplified. And at what point does it turn from exploration to a disdain for commitment?
During the show, Islanders were encouraged to split their attention and entertain all the options available to them. Most of the islanders were always half in, half out and keeping their eye on the door. This was sold as exploring your options, but islanders would allow what they have to venture into rocky territory and pursue just about anyone.
Simultaneously, islanders who decided to work on nurturing one connection were punished and forced to leave show. This was similar t
omodern dating, where people struggle with committing to one person and believe that the grass is greener elsewhere. This is not to suggest that settling is the best option, but rather to pursue someone you want rather than pursuing everyone available in fear of missing out. Yes, you wouldn’t immediately purchase the first article of clothing you see without trying on others. But should you discover that you liked that first item the best, why would you continue roaming the store to try on pieces that aren’t the same? A gentle reminder that one bird in the hand is better than two in the bush. - Unrequited love
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To Frank Ocean, love is nothing more than a one-man cult, and that is what love felt like on the show. Witnessing Cierra falling for Nic, who had eyes for another woman, was brutal. While Nic felt that he had to pursue any bombshell who expressed an interest in him, Cierra would do the same with more of a closed heart. While Cierra would openly express her feelings for Nic, he often met her sentiment with vagueness and nowhere near as much gusto. Cierra would shrug off a lot of the bad things he would do to maintain her appearance as the ‘cool girl’, which only led to her detriment. One might think that committing doesn’t come easily to him, but witnessing his relationship with Olandria showed that he was capable of being that person for the right person.
Sometimes actions reveal more about a person’s intentions than their words do. Don’t overinvest in someone who isn’t invested in you. Don’t fill a cup that doesn’t fill yours in return. Otherwise, you will be led on until the ends of the Earth. If you realise that you aren’t fulfilled or the relationship is not progressing as you had hoped, the best thing that you can do is choose yourself. A second gentle reminder, if he wanted to, he would.
- performative relationships
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If you were to look up the victim of the miscommunication trope, an HD picture of Amaya Papaya would appear. Amaya’s story is complex because she would often end up in a pairing that would stir up insecurity. Some may fault Ace for the way he confronted their relationship and say that his timing was off. But, for the longest time, he was the only partner of Amaya’s that was honest with her. Under the guise of protecting her feelings or maybe not looking bad to others, her partners would continue to deny her insight into their true feelings.
You shouldn’t have to perform for your partner. If a partner is asking for honesty, the bare minimum would be to grant them what they seek. What is a relationship where you cannot be honest with one another? Huda also experienced this from Chris. In his confessionals- and to some of the islanders-Chris would speak openly about his problems within the relationship and things that didn’t sit well with him. But when asked by his partner, he would react as Austin and Zak did and promise that everything was okay. Both Amaya and Huda had an inkling that something wasn’t right, and thus asked the person involved, which leads to the third and final reminder: always trust your intuition. You don’t always know someone’s intentions when they are pursuing you, so it’s important to keep your wits about you. Not everything is communicated verbally.
Dating culture today has made way for many benefits. It has made space to allow for growth and better accommodates the changes that we are constantly experiencing without external pressure. It allows us to find ourselves as individuals while simultaneously finding a partner. The thing that modern dating and reality TV shows have in common is that both are done with an emphasis on how it looks to others. We have forgotten the objective of dating and what it entails. We allow what others think dating is to dictate our pursuits and determine our actions. Dating is an individual activity. Therefore, it is important to make it what you want. Instead of being intentional in our pursuits, we act on the opinions of others or on how we would be perceived. We watch these shows and consider them to be so separated from reality, but the separation is not that evident in our dating lives.