The first season of the American version of the television reality program Love Island began airing on July 9, 2019, and concluded on August 7, 2019. The 22-episode series was broadcast on CBS in the United States and CTV in Canada. Arielle Vandenberg hosted the series while Matthew Hoffman provided voice-over narration. On August 7, 2019, having received the largest quantity of votes from the public, Elizabeth Weber and Zac Mirabelli were crowned the winners and split the prize. Dylan Curry and Alexandra Stewart were named the runners-up.
The show's first season generally received mixed reviews from critics and its ratings were not as high as CBS's expectations. The series was renewed for a second season before the first had finished airing.
Format
Love Island is a reality television program in which a group of contestants, who are referred to as "Islanders", are living in a villa in Fiji. The Islanders are cut off from the outside world and are under constant video surveillance. To survive in the villa, the Islanders must be in a relationship with another Islander. The Islanders couple up for the first time on first impressions but they are later forced to "re-couple" at special ceremonies in which they can choose to remain with their current partners or to switch partners. At the villa, the couples must share a bed for sleeping and are permitted to talk with other Islanders at any time, allowing them to get to know everyone. While in the villa, each Islander has his or her own telephone, with which they can contact other Islanders via text and can receive text messages informing them of the latest challenges, dumpings, and re-couplings. While the Islanders might appear to have unmediated access to the outside world, they are limited in both their alcohol consumption and communication with the outside world.
The Islanders are presented with many games and challenges that are designed to test their physical and mental abilities, after which the winners are sometimes presented with special prizes, such as a night at the Hideaway or a special date.
Islanders can be eliminated, or "dumped", for several reasons; these include remaining single after a re-coupling and by public vote through the Love Island mobile app. During the show's final week, members of the public vote to decide which couple should win the series; the couple who receive the most votes win.
At the envelope ceremony on finale night, the couple who received the highest number of votes from the public receive two envelopes, one for each partner. One envelope contains and the other contains nothing. The partner with the envelope may choose whether to share the money with his or her partner as a test of trust and commitment.
Islanders
On June 30, 2019, the initial Islanders were revealed. These Islanders entered the villa on July 7. All of the other Islanders were revealed as the series progressed. At the envelope ceremony, Elizabeth drew the envelope containing the $100,000 and decided to split the money with her partner, Zac.
Winston Hines previously appeared on season 20 of Big Brother.
IslanderAgeResidenceEnteredExitedStatusRef Elizabeth Weber 24 Birmingham, Michigan Day 1 Day 30 Zac Mirabelli 22 Chicago, Illinois Day 1 Day 30 Alexandra Stewart 26 Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania Day 1 Day 30 Dylan Curry 25 East Meadow, New York Day 4 Day 30 Caroline "Caro" Viehweg 21 Los Angeles, California Day 1 Day 30 Third place Raymond "Ray" Gantt 23 Lakewood, New Jersey Day 15 Day 30 Third place Emily Salch 21 Groton, New York Day 21 Day 30 Fourth place Weston Richey 25 Dallas, Texas Day 1 Day 30 Fourth place Kyra Green 22 Harlem, New York Day 1 Day 27 Jered Youngblood 27 Lakeland, Florida Day 21 Day 27 Aissata Diallo 25 Highbridge, New York Day 15 Day 25 Yamen Sanders 24 Inglewood, California Day 1 Day 25 Anton Morrow 23 Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania Day 21 Day 23 Eric Hall 27 Toronto, Ontario Day 15 Day 23 Kelsey Jurewicz 25 Newark, Delaware Day 15 Day 23 Katrina Dimaranan 26 Day 9 Day 20 Cashel Barnett 28Sacramento, California Day 1 Day 20 Winston Hines 29 Lexington, Kentucky Day 11 Day 18 Marlisse "Marli" Tyndall 20 Miami, Florida Day 15 Day 18 George Johnson 30 Beverly Hills, California Day 15 Day 18 Christen McAllister 24 Louisville, Kentucky Day 9 Day 13 Cormac Murphy 26 Ennis, Ireland Day 4 Day 13 Alana Morrison 21 Day 1 Day 11 Mallory Santic 26 Vancouver, Washington Day 1 Day 11 Michael Yi 29 Miami, Florida Day 1 Day 6
Future appearances In 2021, Kyra Green appeared on the MTV dating series Match Me If You Can.
In 2022, Ray Gantt & Caro Viehweg competed as a team on The Amazing Race 33, prior to the suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic and they did not return for the resumption of that season. Cormac Murphy briefly appeared on the 10th series of Celebs Go Dating. Gantt, Green, Emily Salch, and Viehweg appeared on the fifth season of MTV's Ex on the Beach. Cashel Barnett and Green competed on The Challenge: USA.
In 2023, Green and Gantt appeared on season one of Love Island Games.
In 2025, Yamen Sanders appeared on season 9 of Temptation Island. Green made a guest appearance on Love Island: Beyond the Villa. Gantt appeared on season three of Perfect Match.
In 2026, Sanders appeared on series three of Love Island: All Stars. Sanders also appeared season four of Perfect Match alongside Weston Richey.
Coupling and elimination history Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Day 1 Day 3 Day 6 Day 11 Day 13 Day 18 Day 20 Day 23 Day 25 Day 27 Final ElizabethZac Zac Zac Safe Immune Zac Cashel & Katrinato dump Zac Safe Finalist Splitthe 100kWinner (Day 30) ZacElizabeth Elizabeth Elizabeth Safe Immune Elizabeth Cashel & Katrinato dump ElizabethWinner (Day 30) Alexandra Michael Dylan Dylan Safe Immune Dylan to dump Dylan Safe FinalistRunner-up (Day 30) Dylan colspan="2" Alexandra Alexandra Safe Immune Alexandra Cashel & Katrinato dump AlexandraRunner-up (Day 30) Caro Cashel Single Cormac Cormac Vulnerable Immune Ray Cashel & Katrinato dump Ray Safe FinalistThird Place (Day 30) Ray colspan="5" Vulnerable Caro Cashel & Katrinato dump CaroThird Place (Day 30) Emily colspan="8" Weston Safe FinalistFourth Place (Day 30) WestonMallory Mallory Katrina Safe Immune Kelsey Cashel & Katrinato dump EmilyFourth Place (Day 30) Jered colspan="8" Kyra SafeEliminatedDumped (Day 27) Kyra Single Cashel Cashel Cashel Safe Immune Eric Vulnerable JeredDumped (Day 27) Aissata colspan="5" Vulnerable Yamen Vulnerable YamenEliminatedDumped (Day 25) YamenAlana Alana Christen Vulnerable Immune Aissata Vulnerable AissataDumped (Day 25) Anton colspan="8" SingleDumped (Day 23) Eric colspan="5" Safe Kyra Vulnerable SingleDumped (Day 23) Kelsey colspan="5" Safe Weston Cashel & Katrinato dump colspan="5" Cashel Caro Kyra Kyra KyraSafeImmune KatrinaVulnerableDumped (Day 20) Katrina colspan="3" Weston Safe Immune Cashel VulnerableDumped (Day 20) Winston colspan="4" Immune Immune SingleDumped (Day 18) George colspan="5" Vulnerable Dumped (Day 18) Marli colspan="5" VulnerableDumped (Day 18) Christen colspan="3" Yamen VulnerableDumped (Day 13) Cormac colspan="2" Caro Caro VulnerableDumped (Day 13) AlanaYamen Yamen SingleDumped (Day 11) MalloryWeston Weston SingleDumped (Day 11) Michael Alexandra SingleDumped (Day 6) Notes 1 none 2 3 none 4 5 6 7 8 Walkednone none DumpedNoDumpingMichaelcouple upAlana,Mallorycouple upCormacIslanders' choiceto dumpGeorgeGirls' choiceto dumpWinstoncouple up4 of 4 votesto dumpAnton,Ericcouple upAmerica's choiceto dumpAmerica's choiceto dumpEmily & WestonCaro & RayChristenIslanders' choice to dumpMarliBoys' choice to dumpAlexandra & Dylan
Notes
: Kyra entered after the initial coupling and was told that after twenty-four hours she'd be allowed to steal a guy from another girl. : America voted for the most compatible couple on the island. The two couples with the fewest votes would be up for the dump. The saved Islanders then had to collectively choose one person from each couple to keep on the island. The Islanders chose to save Caro and Yamen, meaning that Christen and Cormac were dumped from Love Island. Following the dumping, Caro and Yamen became single. Winston, as a new Islander who arrived after the most-recent re-coupling, was immune from this dumping. : America voted for their favorite new boy and girl to save from dumping. America saved Eric and Kelsey, leaving Aissata, Ray, Marli, George vulnerable to being dumped. Then, the guys had to collectively choose to save either Aissata or Marli and the girls collectively chose to save either Ray or George. Aissata and Ray were saved, meaning that Marli and George were dumped from Love Island. : America voted for their favorite couple to save from dumping. Cashel & Katrina, Aissata & Yamen and Eric & Kyra received the fewest votes and were up for the dump. The saved Islanders had to publicly vote to dump one of the vulnerable couples, with each saved couple casting one vote. Cashel & Katrina received all 4 votes and were dumped from Love Island. : Kelsey walked during the re-coupling ceremony, meaning she decided to not couple up with anyone. : America voted for their favorite couple. The couple that received the fewest votes was dumped from Love Island. : America voted for the couple they wanted in the Finale of Love Island. When the votes were revealed the couples with the most votes were declared as finalists while the couple with the fewest votes was dumped. : Viewers voted for which couple they thought should win Love Island. The couple with the most votes were declared the winners of Love Island and received the grand prize money.
Episodes
Production Development On February 22, 2006, it was announced an American version of Celebrity Love Island was in development at My Network TV but the program was never produced. On August 8, 2018, it was reported CBS had acquired from ITV Studios and Motion Content Group the rights to produce an American non-celebrity version of the show with David George, Adam Sher, and David Eilenberg serving as executive producers. Simon Thomas, Mandy Morris, Ben Thursby, Richard Foster, and Chet Fenster later joined the series as executive producers in addition to the original three. It was also announced Arielle Vandenberg would be hosting the series. Matthew Hoffman was selected as the narrator for the series; his narrative style involved leveling sarcastic comments at the contestants in voice-overs. CBS budgeted $30 million to produce the season.
On August 1, 2019, CBS renewed the series for a second season.
Filming Filming started on July 7, 2019, two days before the Islanders entered the villa. Filming took 30 days and ended on August 6 during the finale. Rather than using a villa on the Spanish Balearic island of Mallorca as the UK series does, the American Love Island is filmed in a custom-built villa on an island in Fiji. Series producers chose Fiji as a location because "it 'meant something to Americans' and 'feels like a place you would want to come and fall in love'." Filming took place at the Villa Takali in Fiji.
Villa
The villa features a two-story house in which the Islanders live; it has a communal bedroom and an outdoor kitchen downstairs. The outdoor area has a pool, hot tub, gymnasium, outdoor bar, shower, and lounge areas, and also a fire pit where most re-couplings take place. There are seven queen-sized beds in the communal bedroom, which the couples share throughout the season. The second floor of the villa has a bathroom containing an infinity bathtub, dressing area, balcony, and a toilet, which the Islanders shared. Also upstairs is a room with four vanities and a balcony where the women could get ready. Areas of the villa, including its garden, collectively contain 3,000 locally sourced plants. Over a mile of neon lights are strung around parts of the villa.