On Aug. 19, season six of “Love Island USA” concluded with a reunion episode on the first day of classes at Howard. The season marked the first time a Black couple, Serena Page and Kordell Beckham, won “Love Island USA,” along with all top four couples being people of color.
This reality TV show became the most popular series of the summer, surpassing hits like “Bridgerton” and “The Bear,” largely due to its viral presence on social media. According to Luminate Ratings, during the week of July 11, Americans watched over 919 million minutes of the show.
“Love Island USA” emerged in 2019, four years after the success of “Love Island UK.” The show begins with about 10 cast members in a villa in Fiji. Every week, new contestants are introduced to challenge existing relationships between couples. Contenders who are left single face elimination and are removed from the island.
Viewers vote for their favorite couples throughout the season. In the finale, the winning couple receives $100,000, with one person deciding whether to split the money or keep it to themselves, revealing their true intentions for competing.
Suma Sesay, a sophomore political science major from Atlanta, has been watching “Love Island” UK and USA for a few years. Being a dark-skinned Black woman, she said she saw herself in Serena and was very happy with her success in finding love.
“Voters have such a big sway on what happens in the show,” Sesay said. “Cast members of color, South Asian and Black women, never do well in the show. To see Serena and Kordell win, having the love that they had, and being that representation was amazing.”
Adding to the win for the Black community on an international level, “Love Island” UK had its first Black couple, Michelle “Mimii” Ngulube and Josh Oyinsan, win this summer.
As a fan of the show, Sesay said this season showed viewers, specifically people who saw themselves in Serena, that Black women are worthy of love.
“The fact that [Serena] had a committed person who was dedicated to her throughout the whole season was something that has never happened in the history of ‘Love Island’ for a dark-skinned Black woman,” Sesay said.
She said she hopes this representation leads to more diverse casting and acceptance of Black love in the media.
Maya Renee Coburn, a junior sports management and economics double major from Atlanta, said that this representation is important, especially when it comes to having confidence and taking up space as a Black woman.
“In the state that we’re in, with a Black woman running for president, it’s so important for teenagers and young adults like us to know that you can be whoever you want to be,” Coburn said. “My little sister watches the show, and she thinks it’s really cool that Black girls are on the show. It makes me very hopeful for the future of this country and the future of entertainment.”
This season not only spotlighted romantic relationships but also highlighted the importance of platonic relationships. The top three women on the show, Page, Leah Kateb, and JaNa Craig, nicknamed PPG (Powerpuff Gang), gained popularity throughout the season due to their friendship and the way they stuck together no matter the situation.
Coburn said friendships are important outside of romantic relationships, especially for college students who are making new friends and connecting with people for the first time.
“Girlhood is important. It’s a large part of not only your romantic relationships but also your platonic relationships and how you navigate those. Because if you can’t be a good friend, you can’t be a good partner,” Coburn said.
Many students tuned into the show while it aired during the summer in June and July. The reunion was released in mid-August, a month after the finale.
Kyla Richardson, a sophomore supply chain management major from Atlanta, watched the reunion with her friends. She said she was excited at first but was disappointed by the outcome.
“We were glad we got to watch it but we wouldn’t watch it again,” Richardson said.
Sesay and Coburn also watched it with friends and said that the reunion was disappointing. Although it did not live up to their expectations, Sesay said it was fun to watch it with friends.
“A lot of things from this season weren’t really talked about or covered as much, but the jaw-dropping moments were 10 times bigger because we were being dramatic, so that was really fun,” Sesay said.
As season six comes to a close, students continue to follow the cast members and their relationships on social media and anticipate what the next season has to offer.
Copy edited by Anijah Franklin
