‘Love Island USA' Has a New Villain This Season: The Viewers
The reality dating show, on Peacock, brings contestants to a remote villa in Fiji to pair up and risk getting dumped (and booted from the island) or recoupled with a different romantic interest. Through the show's official app, viewers are encouraged to vote on who should be dumped and even selecting which contestants should go on dates.
But one such fan vote, and a floodgate of audience response, this season has reopened scrutiny of 'Love Island' and the mental health and welfare of its contestants. In recent weeks, the host Ariana Madix took the rare step of admonishing fans, as some have sent hateful messages or threats to family and friends of the islanders.
'Don't be contacting people's families,' she said on 'Aftersun,' a weekly recap show. 'Don't be going on islanders' pages and saying rude things.'
The rebuke came after viewers were vocal in response to Huda Mustafa, a 24-year-old from North Carolina who audiences voted to split from her partner Jeremiah Brown. Her reaction was dramatic, even by reality TV standards.
Mustafa shouted insults and expletives at Brown, and her aggressive behavior toward the woman Brown was recoupled with prompted another contestant, Pepe Garcia, to tell an islander: 'I don't know if we should stay close or not, in case something happens.'
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