Related Articles
After six weeks of unexpected dumping decisions, slow-burning friends-to-lovers plot lines, and endless drama, Love Island USA Season Seven has come to an end. Host Ariana Madix appeared on last night’s finale to crown the winners and tease the upcoming reunion, which will bring them together with some of the Islanders who were dumped, or potentially even removed, from the villa this season. A few familiar faces from throughout the Love Island franchise will also appear in September when Love Island Games returns for the first time in two years.
Premiering Tuesday, Sept. 16, on Peacock, Love Island Games Season Two will revive the competitive format in which contestants couple up to compete in challenges. It still has all the fixings of Love Island — including bombshells, recouplings, and dumpings — with each couple more overtly competing to win the $100,000 prize in the end.
Madix will extend her hosting duties to Season Two, stepping in for Season One host Maya Jama, who is the primary Love Island UK host.
“It was nice to actually have a laugh with them and cheer them on and also just see them get physical — some more physical than I thought,” Jama told Rolling Stone in 2023 about the first season of the spin-off series. “The challenges were tough. I’m hoping that it will translate how serious the competition actually got. Some people were in tears, people were breaking up friendships and all of this kind of stuff.”
While Love Island USA will get international bombshells every now and then — and Love Island UK just brought in its first American contestant on Season 12 — Love Island Games opens its doors to Islanders from every iteration of Love Island. The show’s first season welcomed people from the French, German, Swedish, Australian, U.S., and U.K. series.
“It was nice to see that dynamic and just how all these big characters from all over the world come together, how they mesh, and who’s going to get on with who and how that person is going to act in that situation,” Jama said. “Just kind of watching them as a social experiment and seeing how these people blend was really fun, and also seeing who ends up with each other as well, because there is still a love element.”
The cast for Season Two will be revealed in the coming weeks leading up to the premiere. Ideally, the Love Island Games showrunners won’t have to post multiple social media statements pleading for the viewers to stop bullying, harassing, and doxxing contestants, as was required for Love Island USA. It’s all fun and games, and maybe a little love.
