Secrets of the ‘Love Island’ Villa
Season seven of Love Island USA delivered many firsts for the juggernaut Peacock series, which originated as a smash-hit reality dating competition featuring UK singles a decade ago. From the curious restructuring of Casa Amor—a twist that saw couples split up temporarily and sent to a new villa with other contestants—to second-chance recouplings, this season ventured into uncharted territory. Among these firsts, there were some major design updates: a new speakeasy-style lounge and a photo booth entered the villa. Both locations quickly became go-to make-out spots for the Fiji-set show’s contestants—because if you give an islander a secluded area, they’re going to kiss in it.
Of course, privacy from the other contestants still isn’t privacy from the cameras offering shot-by-shot recaps to a massive viewing audience. Since its inception, Love Island USA has been a voyeur’s paradise: The show offers a look at the interpersonal dynamics of eligible singles as they fight for love and a shot at a $100,000 prize. For the unfamiliar (a group that’s getting smaller and smaller as viewership spikes), the goal of the competition is to try and find your strongest connection on an island of contestants via a series of chats and (decidedly freaky) challenges. Participants couple up, and anyone who isn’t chosen is at risk of being voted off the island.
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The 30,000-square-foot Fijian villa is designed to expose and connect the islanders as they find and maintain their connections. The dwelling viewers know and love is relatively new within the show’s history. “Season six was the first time we had a chance to do a long-term lease on a property. We demolished a building and built it from the ground up for the first time,” Love Island production designer Richard Jensen tells AD. Since all of the common areas are outdoors (not that that’s limiting, given the outdoor space is around 60,000 square feet), and castmembers share one big bedroom with multiple beds, they have no choice but to put it all out in the open. While contestants form their own codes of ethics and unspoken social doctrines, the villa speaks its own design language, which guides the behavior of the islanders and keeps the show running smoothly. Maintaining a balance of vulnerability and openness while keeping the contestants immersed in their own reality is its own kind of game, requiring careful curation and lots of trial and error.
Before we tune into the highly-anticipated reunion, AD caught up with Jensen to get the scoop on some hidden design secrets of the villa.
Smile, you’re on hidden camera
The villa was built with special features to minimize face-to-face interference from production. Crew appearances on the set can disrupt continuity and impact crucial conversations between the islanders, which takes them out of the moment and kills the naturally-brewing reality drama that viewers crave. To keep the cast in the moment, there are a few tricks the Love Island production team employs to stay truly behind-the-scenes.
