Proper Chat: A Love Island Podcast

Love Island USA vs. UK 🌴

• Indie Movie Club • Season 4 • Episode 3

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Welcome to the final episode of our special three-part series on Love Island USA vs UK! In this episode, hosts Nicole, Brana, Gabi, and Langa dive deep into the key differences and similarities between the USA and UK versions of Love Island. From production budget and cast diversity to unique challenges and finale prizes, we cover it all. Hear our thoughts on host performances, standout islanders, and those unforgettable moments. 


Plus, we bring you the latest Love Island gossip with our 'Scoop on the Streets' segment. Don't miss out—subscribe to Proper Chat for all things Love Island!

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Nicole:

Hello, and welcome to Proper Chat, a Love Island podcast. I'm Nicole, one of your hosts here with my three other lovely hosts. Say hi everyone.

Brana:

Hi, I'm Verona.

Nicole:

Hi, I'm Gabby. Hi, I'm Linda. Typically on this podcast, we cover the OG UK Love Island seasons, but this year we are doing a special three part series on USA, and it completely took over our feeds this year, so we want to talk about it. In this third episode of our three part series, we are talking about the differences and similarities between UK and U USA, and what we Liked or disliked about each. This episode does contain spoilers, so please be advised. Go watch UK Season 6, or sorry, Season 11 and USA Season 6, and then come back and listen to this podcast. But before we want to dive in, I want to do a few things. I want to say this is our last and probably final episode of this three part series and also of the season. Please follow and subscribe to this in your podcast feeds. We do this because we Love Island and each other and chatting about the show, but we also love your support and it means a lot to us. Okay, before we go in I want to check in with other hosts. How's everyone's week going? How are we doing? What's been going on? Gabby, you want to go first?

Gabi:

Yeah, so my positive and negative of the week is that I am now unemployed, which my friend is also unemployed. And she called it fun employed. So that's what I am right now. I'm really enjoying my life finally. So trying to figure out what I want to do with my life and we'll see I know there's so many options out there It's like the world is like there's just so much opportunity for me right now Yeah, and I'm just trying to figure out what to do at this point because everything I believe in, everything happens for a reason. I'm just trying to figure out what is the reason and, whether or not I need to stay in corporate or whether or not I need to venture out and focus on some of our other businesses. Or whatever it is I'm meant to be doing. Yeah,

Nicole:

you've got so much going on like outside of work to like I feel like you have so much potential. So I'm excited for this journey and for you.

Gabi:

I yeah, thank you for saying that. I think I'm more excited than upset. Like the journey had was, the journey ended. And now that it's ended, it's really positive from here. So yeah, pretty good things. But what about you, Vrana?

Brana:

Yeah. Yeah. I want to reiterate that sentiment, Gabby. The world is your oyster. Yeah. Thank you. And, yeah. What happened this last week? We got to hang out, which was fun. Me, Gabby, and Langa had a little fun. Girly swirly Saturday. Had some lunch. Had some Sephora shopping. That was good. And, yeah. It was just like a good little fun You're welcome. Fun day, girls day out. We missed Nicole. She was not here to join us, but it was a good day. Yeah. So Langa, what's going on with you?

Langa:

My, fun thing is that I got to see Steph Curry and his wife, Aisha Curry. IRL they had an event where I work and it was cool seeing them. I feel like I'm not like, as we know, I'm an Oilers fan. So that's the only sport I watch. Go Oilers! But I think it was just very cool seeing them in the flesh and, I feel like they're like, I guess very famous people so I don't think it's I see very famous people every single day. And I think the work that they're doing, why they had, why the point of the event was just so amazing. And yeah, it was really great to see them in the flesh,

Nicole:

yeah,

Langa:

that's

Nicole:

a real slab signing, right? Yeah.

Brana:

Bay Area Royalty. Yeah,

Langa:

it was it was like, okay, cool. It was like, okay, fine. Work isn't that bad for five minutes. What did they talk about? So they have a not sponsored, but hey, if they want to sponsor us, yeah, a brief story. They have an organization called ePlayLearn and basically it's so basically they were screening a documentary about illiteracy in in adults in the United States and how it's the importance of teaching children from low income communities how to read. And basically that was the point of the exercise. And they yeah, so yeah, that's just this period.

Nicole:

Very cool.

Langa:

I

Nicole:

didn't know celebrity sightings in Wisconsin last week. No, you went to the Top Chef guy's restaurant. That's true. That's true. I didn't see him, but we ate his food, which was cool. Yeah this most recent. Season of Top Chef was about Wisconsin and my sister is like such a foodie. She like watches all the food shows and knows what's going on in the scene. So she took us to one of the restaurants that one of the top chefs cooks at. So that was fun. And got some really good quality sister time, which is really nice. Yeah, and that was my week and came back and I've been like running errands and chilling. I'm also like. I have a job coming up, got a new job starting soon, but I'm in the in between phase. So it's been nice to just chill and catch up on all the shows and not work. So that's been nice.

Brana:

Fun and Floyd, you are.

Langa:

Yeah, you and Gary, Fun and Floyd. Ron and I, in the midst of the rat race.

Brana:

So as Nicole mentioned in today's episode, we're going to be covering the differences between the UK series and the USA series. This was our first time watching USA. And we all quickly noticed so many little and big differences along the way. So we're going to. Just dive in category by category. So starting with budget, I think right off the bat you could see the difference in budget. Whether it was the cast intros, Cordell doing his little spin with the suitcase, and especially just like the look and feel of the villa. The USA villa felt like such a big upgrade to the UK location. And after doing some digging, I actually learned that the USA Villa was actually custom built for the series in Fiji. They made it, to look exactly what they wanted it to be, which is why it was like, almost like model home esque, when you like, like Barbie's dream home, like Love Island's dream home. Whereas like the villa in Mallorca and in South Africa, those are homes that they then transform into becoming the Love Island villa, but they already have the bare bones and make it what they want it to be. You can really tell, like Peacock put out a big budget for this show. And I feel like it paid off. It was definitely a very pleasurable experience watching, but yeah. What did you guys all think after seeing with all of the, about the villa, the cast intros, et cetera.

Nicole:

Yeah. I really had this thought while, I was watching a lot of behind the scenes content from the cast members from both seasons. And one thing that the UK folks reiterated multiple times, and I think we noticed as. People watching the series, it's how small it actually is in the UK and like you can hear each other talking in other parts of the villa and the girls would literally be on the other side of the pool and still get to hear what the guys were saying on the opposite side and, versus USA they could go upstairs. Or down to the dock and have their secret little moments and it's not until later that it's revealed So I think it did play out in the dynamics which I was surprised by between usa and uk I almost wish there was more opportunity for Secret almost hideaway moments in UK because so much of the drama, so much of the intrigue comes from, when people aren't listening and you can confess your real feelings and air out things, right? What was the, Oh, soul ties. Every single episode, like people were pulling each other into soul ties to have a little moment and that played a part, a huge part, I think in USA and like some of the drama.

Gabi:

It's speaking. So speaking of soul ties, is that something new to USA? This was my first time watching USA. So no, that's a term now we So

Langa:

ties is the name of the section they call it that because it's also got the neon sign on the

Gabi:

But I think

Langa:

they've had it like in other seasons as well. So I just think it's maybe it's also the most private. So I think that's why maybe it was the more coveted because you could also hang out and chill, and I think you could also technically if you were doing something naughty. Someone could, you could, yeah, because that's why usually when people in soul ties, remember, they always have to take shoes off and be sneaky because that's like the best place for like people to do sneaky kissing and stuff like that because no one can see. But yeah, you know what you understand what I mean? It's like the

Gabi:

balcony. It's like a balcony in the UK. But it's the less, it's

Langa:

like the less pressure balcony. Cause you can go to Seoul Titus to chat, but the balcony is also sending a bigger message. Cause they, I feel like the US maybe has a balcony. I can't actually remember if they even have it. Yeah,

Nicole:

I think they do. From the girls dressing room, they have a little balcony.

Gabi:

But they didn't, it wasn't a bigger deal. They didn't use it like, like they used it in the UK. Yeah. One of the things that stuck out to me in terms of budget was the dates in the middle of the ocean. And when they took the whole boat out, I think Miguel and Serena had that day. I think Cassidy and Miguel. There was a few people on that day, I remember. And I was thinking that is like finale worthy dates. that I think happened like early, like even before Kasam or like episode like 15. So I thought that was really cool that they got to experience that. And another thing that kind of goes along that same, with the budget was just their villa being in Fiji versus being in the US. So that was interesting. Part of me wishes that it was in the US, like in Florida or something, or California, honestly, Where we could visit and rent out a couple rooms because that would be so much fun to do We'll have to do that in Fiji at some point, but that would be fun

Nicole:

I bet you they'll have influencers come in the offseason to do some stuff. So Love Island producers We're here. We're happy to review the Fiji.

Gabi:

You guys, I think that their budget really helped with like marketing and really getting the name out of the show this season because I do feel like there's been such like so many other influencers that have been talking about Love Island USA this time around. And a big part was the characters, were that love the Islanders because they were so iconic this season. But I do think a big part of it was also like how big production it looks. So it almost made you feel like you're watching something The Bachelor. And it wasn't just like a little show like a, Like a short show that pops in and out. spectacle,

Nicole:

right? There was a lot going on. I think, just to play off your idea too, Gabby, I think also they hit this perfect moment of With all of the strikes that happened there's not a lot of like new, like scripted content coming out. And so they can put their budget into these big, reality shows for marketing and get people riled up because they're filming like, and they're putting it out at the same time. Like it was a perfect storm of we don't have a whole lot going on in terms of television. Like amazing reality shows coming out and it's in the U. S. Or U. S. cast. So I think it was like a perfect storm for this like season to totally take off. And I agree, like they do have the budget to market it, which is, I'm like, I feel like I've been talking about Love Island for forever. And this is like the first year that people were like, Oh, I know about that show. Isn't it doing well in the U. S. Yeah.

Brana:

Yeah. And what, another thing you were mentioning, Gabby, about the dates is like, Also, just the dates, in the beginning, in the middle of the show were pretty epic in the USA. Let's talk about the finale dates that they got in the USA, which were what we are more used to in the UK, like these big grand dates. Whereas in the UK this season, it's I think

Nicole:

you don't have any,

Brana:

but I like the

Nicole:

final date.

Brana:

Yeah, it's like they spent them all on Nicole's little sad necklace that she got. I did.

Langa:

Oh my god, I love that.

Brana:

Like, where were they? Where were the big grand dates with an, or, like a whole live performance and dancers and singers and, Candles and all the stuff we needed that. Yeah.

Gabi:

Also, guys, can we talk a little bit about the high production games that happened? I thought it was really crazy during one of the, it was like a slime type of game. Do you guys remember that game where they had to put their face in a cake and look for the key and then do all these little obstacle things? But wasn't it, do you guys remember? Yeah. Every time one of the couples went, the set was completely cleaned out. There was a brand new cake for them to stuff their face in. And it was completely clean. I don't know if you guys realize that, but while I was watching, I was like, Oh my gosh, how much money or in time, do they need to put that together? It was like 5 million cakes for every single person that went down that did the challenge. And a whole new slime, and like cleaning, and then waiting, like the whole production.

Nicole:

Totally. It was insane. And the sets were like, crafted, versus like the UK. It's just like a stage, and then they bring out like one or two things, and that's the prop. You could tell, like there was a lot of production side into the budget for this. Yeah.

Brana:

Yeah. Definitely. What we had like that game we had, speaking of games, we also had the we had the food game in the USA, which I know is like the game we will hope they never bring back. It's so gross. Please. Please. I can't even watch

Gabi:

that one. I didn't watch it. I

Brana:

forward it every time. I can't. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Metaphobic. No.

Gabi:

No. Are you kidding me? That's. That's triggering. That's just too nasty. No. We're

Nicole:

like in a post COVID era, like, why are we still spitting things into each other's mouth? Exactly. Disgusting.

Gabi:

Are you kidding me? I can't ever do that again. I know in college, I was like, again? You know how it used to be. Like, in college, people were like, people would kiss no no issues. I don't think people do that anymore. Like that, people would kiss in clubs and do, and just do whatever, like sharing. Oh

Brana:

True. I

Langa:

know those people very well. Yeah, exactly. Honestly,

Brana:

same.

Gabi:

Exactly and also sharing drinks and stuff and just how nasty everything was back in the day. It was fine. We survived. But after COVID that's

Langa:

true. We did. We were fine. I love how Gabi's you know those people. Now she's we're fine. I love how nasty it was.

Brana:

We

Gabi:

used to

Nicole:

be those people is

Gabi:

what we're trying to say. Exactly. Exactly. Okay. I cannot out myself again. Like last episode I was talking about how I was like Serena in her worst moments ever. And this episode, I need to be clean girl. Again we're all gross, Gabby, in college,

Nicole:

so it's okay we'll be there with you.

Gabi:

No, you guys know what I mean, yeah, for sure. I got you.

Brana:

Yeah.

Gabi:

You're so funny,

Langa:

I love that.

Brana:

They also had that the game with the dancing game, where people had to stand on the other side, and it was like, if you wanted to stay together, and even that was like pretty high, fancy with all the Stick or

Gabi:

twist.

Brana:

Stick or twist, yeah.

Gabi:

Yes, that was a, the same concept to Casa Amor, if you're sticking or if you're switching, but it was ruthless that game. Yeah. Yeah.

Nicole:

I liked it though. I liked it. Loved it. Cause it was like lower stakes. Stakes than obviously Casa. More'cause they don't have to bring a whole person back in.

Gabi:

But they can

Nicole:

like secretly let everyone else in the villa know Hey, I'm interested in exploring other things. And I thought that was smart by the production. I would like to see that for you uk.

Gabi:

Yeah. Yeah. Bring that back for sure. Totally. That, okay. Just side note. That was one of the games that really confused me of Cordell and Serena because Serena didn't stand there. Cordell did. That was, like, really confusing to me, but that's not Are you

Langa:

saying that dancing part?

Gabi:

No, remember they would dance and then if you wanted to stay together. So

Langa:

I have a backup, I have a comment on that of what actually, what happened. I remember I told, I listened to the Kiki Palmer, sorry to interrupt you, but Oh my gosh, no. Remember the Kiki Palmer podcast I sent you guys? Yes. About, they actually spoke about the scene as to Kiki goes, hey, but like Serena, You like, from what we could tell you and Cordell were like, feeling each other at that point. And the fact that you left him hanging on his own was weird. And she was just like, walk us through it. And she was like, sometimes on these shows, like production leaves a lot of things out. What did we miss that? We like, what did we not see that? Cause it was very confusing. The fact that you left and he stayed. So she explained that. When they, like when production spoke to them, they got isolated and they spoke to them separately. So apparently the game was explained differently to both of them. So Serena heard that basically they were saying like, okay, we're going to play this dancing game, but if you are open, meaning you're still going to get to know people, and meaning, no, If you're open meant for her was like, Oh no, you're not official with someone. You're still open to meet new people, but you guys aren't like official. That's why you, she stopped dancing. Cause that was the story she got. And then Cordell got a different one where I think for him, it was he got a different version of what was meant to be happening. So technically when they were dancing, they both had heard different things. So I don't know if production did this to be messy. Yeah. But at the day, it's so that's why even she says she felt really bad. She didn't mean to leave him, but she was like, she didn't hear that. Like they got two different explanations as to what the point of that exercise was.

Gabi:

That clarifies things for me because at the end she says, it's not even like that. And that makes so much sense if she stood there and she was like, no I'm not saying that I'm not closed off. I'm just saying I'm still open. Yeah, like we're not boyfriend

Langa:

and girlfriend right now. Yeah,

Gabi:

totally. Yeah, okay, that makes sense. Okay, so bring back the game, but be clear. On the rules, the description. Stop being messy.

Langa:

Yeah. Yeah. We see you. And thank you Kiki Palmer for asking that question.

Brana:

Exactly. Yeah. That's a good

Langa:

question. Good for her.

Brana:

Quality journalism. Totally. Yeah. So another. Yeah. Another thing we've got was we definitely noticed a lot of SponCon. In the USA, we have some in the UK, but definitely not as much whereas in the USA, especially, talk about the reunion. We had Pizza Hut. Even I wanted to get some Pizza Hut watching them eat so much. I don't think I've had Pizza Hut since I was like in middle school.

Nicole:

Rana was influenced by pizza. I

Brana:

was like doing like in the city. I don't even know like I think but I was like sounds good.

Nicole:

I thought it was so funny how they like picked the most, so at first it was like girls eating pizza, guys eating pizza, and then they like made like this weird combo of some of the The people that you do, yes. Yeah,

Langa:

I was

Nicole:

like,

Langa:

who,

Nicole:

they're not even talking about anything. And then have them

Langa:

have this weird conversation like, let's spill the tea of how it's crazy it's going on in there. And it's who are you guys? They're like, let's open this pizza. It's like, why is this happening?

Gabi:

Who pitched this group? Oh my gosh. I thought it was so funny when they said, Oh, I'm so happy. I'm not one of the OG people. Like I'm so happy. I was just like the cat, one of the Casa girls without any like any tea. And then they start eating their pizza. It's we can actually enjoy the drama. Did you guys remember that part? Yeah. Those,

Nicole:

it was all, you're right. It was all weird. Yeah.

Brana:

Yeah, we also had a lot of Maybelline and like other random products just being discussed quite a bit in the USA whereas like in the UK I feel like all we get is ebay they get their like one ebay party and for those of us

Langa:

And the google phone, I think oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's true.

Brana:

Yeah, I know very well ebay is a sponsor of love island uk because I have to watch the commercials every time And so every time they're like sponsors of Love Island UK, eBay. Oh, interesting. But, yeah, it's everywhere. I see it too. I also am

Langa:

on ads, so don't worry, Brana. Yeah. And did you know that eBay, it's like different outfits?

Brana:

No, I never paid attention.

Langa:

Only reason I know it's because once we watched it with Claire, and Claire basically was like, Oh my gosh, guys, did you notice they changed outfits? And Jeremy and I were like, Oh, no, we didn't notice.

Brana:

No, when it's like the ads, I like look away and do something. Yeah. That's so funny.

Nicole:

Yeah, I don't watch ads on either. So I just watched the series. And every time I'm like, Oh, this is a very clear plot product placement. And she's like putting on her lipstick and like turning a lip gloss Oh, I love this color. I'm like, this is not reality TV. This is clearly an ad right, in front of my eyes without having ads turned on. Thank you very much.

Brana:

So then let's move on to talking about the host. So obviously, we, in the UK, we have our gorgeous Maya Jama. She's been the host since season 9, and she's done a great job. She's killed it. As a host, she also always looks stunning with her outfits. And this year they gave Arianna Maddox the job. She's the third also like the third person to be hosting Love Island USA. And I felt like she did a great job overall. Like she's definitely someone who was a fan before. She was excited to be there and wasn't just like a random person that they hired to host. the show without having context. I feel like she definitely stepped it up with the outfits to match Maya's vibes and yeah. What did you guys think about like Ariana, watching Ariana after having watched Maya and like other past UK hosts?

Nicole:

Yeah, I think they were really smart about the pick for the U. S. host because I actually had some friends be like, Oh, I'm watching USA this year because I love Ariana and I want to see how she does. And like for people who are fans of reality TV, it was a really great way to be like, You love this girl? We have her on a new show that we also think you're gonna love. So I think it was a really great way for them to also another reason why this season took off, I think. I thought she did a great job at hosting, bringing folks together. My only criticism was, I don't know, the reunion felt a little off and we discussed this in the last episode, like we wish she was like a little bit more like cutthroat, but Lenga brought up a point about like how, she's used to maybe that kind of setting and Yeah. Yeah. Having the big forum and how those run versus maybe how Maya Jama went from table to table or brought people up and kept the flow going and asking some hard questions sometimes. And I don't know if it's necessarily like a criticism of her overall, just maybe like how she's used to running things versus Maya and that would be my only feedback. I thought she was fabulous. Otherwise,

Gabi:

I agree. I thought she was incredible. I think she did an amazing job. There's just a few differences like the aura that Maya gives just because she's been doing it for so long, like so many episodes now. so much. She gives this aura of Oh, she's, when she's walking Oh, that's Maya. Let's, straighten up, go to the fire pit immediately. Yeah, very confident, very like, very

Langa:

Demure,

Gabi:

very mindful, cutesy, one might say. Yeah, exactly. And I felt like in the USA versus the UK, the girls were a lot more in line with Ariana. They felt like she was like part of the group. their friend group, like they would joke, even when they were in the fire pit, they would be like, Oh my gosh, Ariana, you look so cute speaking outside of their turn to speak. I don't know if you guys caught that. But and I saw it happen pretty often. And that would never happen with my other girls are like super straight that, everyone's Oh my gosh, she's here. She just gives this like radiance about her like she comes in and it's everyone just stops talking and sits down and that does I think come with just the, tenure, I think you see her so much on TV that she becomes like a lot like bigger of a, impact to the show. I think that'll happen with time with Ariana too.

Langa:

I agree because I agree because yeah, because I feel like my has been a couple of seasons and Ariana's new feels new and obviously everyone and as well as the contestants on Love Island. As a, I watched Vanderpump Rules and I feel like it's again, super cool that Ariana went from like post breakup, but also went from watching the show to like hosting the show. I thought that was very cool. I thought she was a good host because also I feel like her personality on the her regular on her reality show is very different as to like just her doing what she was doing. On on Love Island. And I feel like, I think she did a good job, but I feel like she needs a little bit more kind of more seasons because I feel like Maya is definitely just more well seasoned. Yeah. And you can only you can't be, amazing on the first day of your job. And again, I did love the fact that she did like basically she took tips that she loved from the UK. You can tell her show is the UK cause she also knows Maya Slays. So she was like, okay, cool. I now have the opportunity to cause that walk in is so important. So just the outfits she chooses and just stuff like that. And also she'd been on Dancing with the Stars. Also her body was, And also her man is like a personal trainer. So she's you know what, let me just, what day can when am I going to get this opportunity to do that walk in and that, knowing where the cameras are looking. So I felt like she dressed for the cameras a lot, sometimes because obviously it's you like the host is around. So you're looking at them. And then she also made sure that she played with like fashion, which I thought was nice. But I think it was also useful for her because she was also around like Moira. Who also like slays when it comes to fashion, I think people like Maya and Moira are little like, I don't know if saying that they dress themselves, but I think they have better fashion styles. Because I feel like Ariana's outfits were a little hit or miss for me. Some are really good, some not so good. Some look like she's about to go and dancing with the stars. So I think so I feel like she'll get there, but I understand where she was trying to go. And I'm like, I hope she comes back next season. And, but just not the same reunion. I think it's such a good season. And it's not a, it's unfortunate that the version that they chose to show us of the reunion was that.

Brana:

Love it. Yeah, so jumping into the islanders themselves and we had a nice variety of people coming on to the USA season. We had contestants from the US, we had UK, we had Australia, and I think comparing that to this UK, Was tricky because in past UK seasons, we did have people who joined from other European countries. We had Davide from Italy and we had people from France and other countries. Whereas this season in the UK, it was just like friends of Joey Essex. And then a few, we had like our, a few of our like black couples that they got. To check the box and say we have diversity and then it was like friends of Joey. Thank

Langa:

you.

Brana:

Yeah, what did you guys all think?

Gabi:

I agree with that. I, oh my gosh, I'm just so impressed by the USA diversity this time around. Oh my god, I was shook. We had so much fun. Like a couple Hispanic girls, which is very a great representation of what America kind of looks like right now. Or has been looking like, it's like you have some people that are maybe like foreigners that are coming in Liv and Miguel and Aaron, they weren't from here, but they could potentially move here, we do have that in the US. So it was cool to actually see that. But yeah, we just, I just felt like it was like such a good diverse group. I loved it versus UK. Totally. I totally understood your sentiment there on Joey Essex friends. That was just too much. I couldn't deal with that. It's

Nicole:

like they spent the budget on getting Joey Essex on the show and they forgot to spend any other money on the cast, right? Or anything else.

Gabi:

The cast, the dates, yeah, all of it. Do you guys think we need a celebrity on that show? One, Oh, one of my, one of the girls that I follow that I've been following forever on YouTube was like, Oh, I'm going to apply like I want to go and she's a pretty big YouTuber. She's like an OG YouTuber from like back in the day. And yeah, I don't know, I think it would be a little interesting to see those girls on the show. I don't know if we necessarily need like a Dancing with the Stars type of vibe where they bring like celebrities. I think that just. I like fresh people. A lot of people that I don't know anything about. Totally. I like them.

Nicole:

Yeah, I think USA did a cool thing which that they cast people that were like, semi unknowns I think, I actually think most of them were like starting a social media career and like mid tier like following, but so that they like knew that they were going to be like popular because they had already some sort of type of following, but they weren't like well unknown. Yeah. Yeah. For us to be like, oh, it's so and oh, it's Joey Essex, oh, it's Charli D'Amelio. Totally. It was like a good mix of here are these people who the public could clearly love because they've shown it in like their small communities that they've built online already. But let's get them into the public eye. Let's make them stars. And I think that they did a really good job with casting, right? Even Lia, right? She, she had something like 12k followers before she started or something like that. But, she like, is rumored to be dating a Kardashian and, or not Kardashian, Kanye. She like, no, he slid into a DM. Okay. Okay.

Gabi:

I know. But still. She's juicing it a little bit. She's acting she's being all secretive. But yeah, that's all it was.

Nicole:

But it's good for her though. Totally.

Gabi:

Totally.

Nicole:

And I feel like Rob, right? He had some sort of social media presence of girls thirsting after him. And he was on a previous season too. But like they're like people, they're like personalities and they just need a little oomph to get the public to like them. And I think they had that like perfect magic in terms of casting for USA this season.

Langa:

I think I definitely agree. I think also I don't know, I feel like the U, the UK is obviously diverse, but I feel like In the U. S. there were like it's diverse, but also everyone's favorites weren't really based on race. Where I feel like often in the U. K. It's like the blonde person or it's like the white couple tends to be like the favorite. So that's all people care about and like obviously once the show ends. The brands or like the talent agencies all just go for like the typical person who you like, Tom example, no hate on them, but Tom and Molly, they basically like Bobby and Ken. So they're like, yep, this is what the UK finds attractive. And so it's Being like, that's who they focus on at the end of the shows. And those are the kinds of couples that tend to be more successful versus I find with the U I'm with the USA ones with this cost, not only were there like amazing on the show, but like even post the show, how marketable they've all kind of turning out to be, because Cordell's dreams came true. And just basically all of them are going on different things. Serena's now is going on, like maybe different, like more Black forward brands like I feel like Love Island USA's marketing team is looking at everyone like helping everyone versus in the UK when the show ends they're what PR firms are gonna want to or talent firms are gonna want certain people but I feel like with this case I feel not that it's true but I feel like the Love Island USA people will be like you know what you're all very appealing to the U. S. audience and you get an endorsement, you get a, everyone, I feel like most of them they're, everyone's EDAG.

Brana:

Totally, yeah. Whereas like in the UK our past winners, Kai and Sanam barely got a peep. Yeah. Yes. And they were winners. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Now let's move on to talking a little bit more about like the show structure. And one thing was the hideaway. No, we previously I talked about how. In the UK this past season, they had the new rules. It was set up to be a really exciting thing. And then ended up being not exciting at all because it was barely used and only Joey went in there twice. And in the U S they kept to the old rules of the hide away. And we. Got to see Nicole and Kendall used it, Kenny and Janae used it towards the end of the season and definitely feel like the hideaway, let's use it more in the old fashioned way, the old rules to keep it keep it exciting, keep it spicy.

Gabi:

That hideaway was like a freaking suite. It was like a whole villa. It was like a whole separate villa. Yeah, it's incredible. But I enjoyed it being used in a traditional way. It's

Nicole:

almost like a date that you get to see them go on and then obviously, yeah, it's obviously fun to see them have their conversations in the morning and be like, what'd you guys do? And I'm sorry, it's another, realization I just had about USA versus UK USA, they talked about all of the very sexual things that they did explicitly, sometimes they danced around it, but UK, they're very like, oh, we did this, or oh, we did this. They wanted to be like posh. Oh, I didn't buy

Langa:

it. I think they're also more concerned with a little bit more in UK. More like image more. I make sense because I think of obviously season two, I think miss Britain, she got her crown taken away from her miss a few years ago, but I'm in the, in that season, I think it was season two or season three, but because of what happened on the show, she got they took the crown away from her. So I guess also the British compared to Americans, we'll have to compare like societies. There's only fans in the UK and there's an only fans in the US, but the UK pretends. They want to be posh. They want to have a king, let them do decorum. Yeah. They want to be, they want to act like they need a king, but go off. We love UK

Gabi:

people. We do. We do.

Langa:

Of course.

Gabi:

It was crazy because they even showered together. I had never seen that in the UK. You don't see that. I think some of

Nicole:

it is cultural. I also think and I've seen a lot of comments and people online talking about this, but I think it's also just the seasons have been on for so much longer in the UK and Lunga, you and I have both watched some of the early seasons and they can get, they were pretty raunchy and like they smoked and like they cursed a lot more. Yeah, that's why I think they were

Langa:

allowed more alcohol those early seasons. Totally.

Nicole:

So I think part of it is just the seasons have been out, they do there's a cultural element, and also they realize, because of all these seasons that have come out, we see the stories and journeys of people that come out of the villa post, Love Island, UK. And, they get slut shamed. They get this and that. And look at what happened to Kendall after USA, unfortunately there is a still a lot of taboos around, being sexual on TV. And I get that, but the UK, maybe they're more sensitive to the public perception of that post, love Island because they know how big it is there. Correct.

Brana:

Yeah. Speaking of being sexy on the screen, the heart rate challenge in the USA this season was Like a completely different vibe than the uk. I feel like the UK was very cutesy, very deme. Or they were just like, oh, I'm just gonna give you a little lap dance in the U, in the usa. I was like,

Langa:

Jana. I literally was like, I felt like I should have that money gun for Jan name. Exactly. Yes. That's like money gun. I was like, oh, the camera angles, like the

Nicole:

zoom in on her. And the like upside down, like movements that they're doing.

Brana:

And Rob, I was, it was like, okay, this felt like we're at magic Mike.

Langa:

Buy that sneak stuff. Yeah, let

Brana:

us know!

Nicole:

Seriously. This might, obviously it's a cultural thing related to being open with sexuality and all that, but I also think it's a USA confidence thing. People in the US and especially the cast that they picked were so confident. They were like, I'm gonna go out, I don't even care, I look, I don't even care if I look stupid. Whereas in the UK there's half the cast is I look stupid, please help me out.

Gabi:

Are Americans more like out there Yes, hyper because they're being, because I remember, yeah. Is that the, is that a yes? Because I remember one, I think Erin said oh, Americans are so hyper. I'm like, is that really how Americans are like

Brana:

confident

Gabi:

or,

Brana:

yeah, just think about like when Americans go to like other countries, another country,

Langa:

especially

Brana:

like Europe and stuff, and it's you can like sometimes spot them from a mile away because we're like so loud and sometimes seen as obnoxious or, what not. Use the

Langa:

word sometimes lightly, but let's say sometimes.

Gabi:

Yeah, I'm a little torn because I'm obviously Ecuadorian. So like my culture is already pretty out there, loud and stuff. So because I grew up here, I just feel like, is it be like, sometimes I feel like I'm being way more extra than Americans would be. So I'm like, when Americans are called hyper and stuff, I'm like, I could really unleash my Ecuadorian self and truly be hyper and like out there and then put me in Europe and then that's another story, you know what I mean? I'm like, so compared to that, I'm like, I don't know if Americans are really that out there. Like to me. Americans always have been very like just like Hispanics will go out there and like dance in the middle of nowhere and not care. But Americans don't do that really. It's not really like a thing. So there's levels. There's levels. Yeah. I thought one thing I think when one of the games or like when they leave they pick like The boys and the girls pick, I know this is not in our talking points, but I just came up to me right now when they leave, they had a girl and a boy leave and the girls had to pick the girl that left and the boys have to pick the boy that left in the USA versus in the UK, we've never seen that they always pick opposites so that they don't hurt their feelings, which is like goes with the cultural vibe of our conversation right now, which I think like the girls. tend to pick the boy because it's okay, we're not hurting your feeling. We just had to choose. But in the USA, the girls, this was like the biggest thing ever. The girls chose Andrea. And then the guy shows Hakeem, and that was like an interesting thing. I don't think that's always been

Nicole:

the case, though. Maybe, I might be misremembering, but I think in previous seasons of UK the girls did have to vote out girls.

Gabi:

I've never

Nicole:

seen

Gabi:

it.

Nicole:

Okay, so maybe that's a thing. In this past season, I don't, I can't remember if they did.

Brana:

Yeah.

Nicole:

They are like, they're very, that's a good point, Gabby, that you mentioned that, because also I feel like Friendship Dynamics played a bigger role in USA versus UK this season, too, and who they voted versus not, because, yeah, it was totally different this time around than I

Gabi:

expected. And then going along with that same episode, it's like they had 30 minutes to pack and they're told you have 30 minutes to pack. I think in one of the challenges, they were like, you have five minutes to pack in the USA. They have never done that in the UK. They never tell us when they're packing and they just show us. The deal this time around, it was like, you have five minutes to pack. Go. Bye. That was interesting. It was just like a different dynamic. I feel like we're

Nicole:

savage.

Gabi:

Yeah, I'll throw and then bring someone else new. Let's get going. This is although the UK

Nicole:

dropped those two new bombshells like So yeah

Brana:

Mid graph mid game. They're like, all right, and by most likely to leave you goodbye.

Langa:

Yes. Yeah, like since they voted, you might as well go now.

Brana:

Totally. Yeah. And then one other thing is the differences was for our Casa more. We had obviously like the whole drama with the video in the US being sent. To kaylor and serena whereas in the uk, that's not the case at all And we didn't get anything like that. I think nicole you had mentioned that in past seasons. They had sent like photos Yeah, yes the

Langa:

postcards like We've seen it.

Brana:

Yeah, so I think we need to bring that back in the uk because it was savage, but it made for great television, so that's what we're here for.

Langa:

Bronner likes Miz.

Nicole:

Totally. We all do. I will say, I think the video was like a little too intense. I feel like it it definitely destroyed Kayler, and Serena was like hardcore pissed. They deserve to find the truth in the future, obviously. But the photos I feel like it's like a taste for, and I remember the season of Love Island, the girls got photos of the guys being flirty or in bed with another girl or kissing or something. And in, in a way, it almost made them be more open to getting to know the guys in Casa, which I think would have been more interesting. Yes, the drama, the sadness. Was great to watch good television, but I almost wish Kayla saw that video and was like, fuck this. I'm actually gonna go talk to these guys. Yeah. Same with Serena, like I, I know her heart was set and both of their hearts were set, but I wish it was just like a little taste for them to be like, fine, I'll open up and talk to these other people too because if they're going to do that, I'm going to do the same.

Gabi:

Yeah, I know. I think that was the intent, but did not work out the way that I think they meant it to work out. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the UK version, a few seasons before they did the postcard scene, but they took a picture of people kissing when he was being super loyal. It was, I can't remember who exactly it was, but there was like one character, one Love Islander who was like being pretty loyal. But they took the picture of him kissing a girl during a challenge, which is like so unfair, and then they like passed it on to the girl to look

Nicole:

at.

Gabi:

Totally, yeah.

Nicole:

And then it did spark her to be like, I'll explore other things, which, she was more than willing to do. All is fair, yeah, love and

Brana:

war. Yeah, and our last comparison is the finale prize. So How they handle the finale and the price is was a little bit different So in the uk the winners are given a 50 pound prize based on public vote Whereas in the USA, the public votes and the winning prize is a hundred thousand dollars. And then they have the twist at the end where one person in the couple gets to either keep all the money if they weren't really here for love, or they can split it. And this was actually originally the format in the UK a long time ago. And then they got rid of this twist because it was boring. And The U. S. decided to adopt it. It feels like an unnecessary moment that we don't need. I think the U. S. can drop it and just go to, Congrats! You won! Woohoo! Let's celebrate! We don't need that.

Nicole:

Oh, great. You know where they can keep it, though? They can keep it in Love Island games if they're gonna bring it back. Because it's a competitive kind of thing. Less about love. So yeah, I think they could do it for that. But yeah, it always feels silly And I did in UK when they did that it was like if you're gonna say no the public's gonna hate you So why would you give the money anyway? like Yeah, the

Brana:

money's not worth the public backlash you would get if you kept

Nicole:

them out. No, the amount of sponsors you lose just for being an asshole and taking the whole money. Yeah, exactly.

Gabi:

But if Joey Essex would have been given the opportunity, I think he would He's the only one that I would absolutely think would take it.

Langa:

True. Could be true. He threw Sean under the bus immediately. Exactly. He totally did. Yeah.

Brana:

So that concludes our USA versus UK recap. And yeah, definitely let us know what things you have noticed that we didn't cover. Because I'm sure there's so many more things that we do not get a chance to chat about.

What's the scoop on the streets? On the streets? Okay, time for Scoop on the streets!

Langa:

Wow, time for Scoop on the Streets. Streets. Streets. Speaking of Joey Essex Brano, what's been actually happening with him these days?

Brana:

Okay, so I saw this today that apparently, this was reported a few weeks ago, Joey Essex, hounded by baby reindeer style stalker, who sent him a hundred thousand messages and threatened to shoot Jessie.

Langa:

Oh no. I

Brana:

was like, what? I thought you were going to say

Langa:

a hundred thousand dollars. I was like, okay, go off. Wait, guys, that's

Brana:

Scary. She got like terrifying death threats from some woman. They didn't say obviously who she was. Like early third, early mid 30s. She got to call the police after he received over a hundred thousand messages from her. And she said horrible things about Jessie, she called her a bitch, and other gross things, she threatened to shoot the shit out of her horrible things, so hopefully they figured out, who she is, hopefully she's behind bars, hopefully All is well and Joey and Jesse are safe because guys that's terrifying creepy. Yeah seems like he's okay because he was just in You know in ibiza this week and celebrating with all of his famous pals So it seems like he's in good spirits, but

Langa:

Crazy things have been happening such as Shek and Tanya's breakup being official. No! They took out a, like not a joint, it can't be a joint statement if you do it separately, but they released separate statements I guess.

Gabi:

But they signed it as if they were together, right?

Langa:

I don't know, I can't recall, but all I know is it is over, cause I know we've speculated. But yeah,

Gabi:

I think the signature was time like shock and Tanya, if I recall,

Brana:

I know I did see that some fans are wondering if this is fake. And their way to come on to All Stars in January and pull like a Molly and Callum. Please.

Langa:

Out. Please. Come. But a Molly and Callum, obviously, look how that ended. They actually are over. No, of

Brana:

course. Yeah. It could just be like a dumb fan idea or, gossip. But.

Nicole:

Wait, Gabby would crazy. Okay. I know you have thoughts on Tanya and Shaq separately.

Gabi:

Yeah.

Nicole:

Stay. If they both came on, would you want their love story to rekindle or would you just want, you would

Gabi:

Yeah, I would. I like love Tanya now. It just, it was a thing where she was so young on this show and I thought he was so mature on the show. And I just thought he was really put together. I loved him, which you guys all, you guys know how much I loved him. Love ish. I don't know. It depends on how, why it ended. I'm not sure. I can't wrap my finger around if I still It's too much. Yeah, it's too much. But, The thing is I love them together. And I started loving her. She's such a cutie. Are you kidding me? I'm like a huge fan of hers now. Yeah, come back to the show. Come back to the show. Okay, I'll watch you. I will root for you.

Nicole:

I see your perspective. See, I like still I don't watch their content much. But I still remember the very pure shock and how Tanya treated him. And so I would almost Enjoy, don't hurt, don't hate me Shaq re re igniting a new love story arc in All Stars who else? We'll see.

Gabi:

Honestly, when it comes to that relationship, it's who's gonna, how? Who's gonna come in? Who's gonna compete? Yeah. Yeah, and it's

Brana:

Yeah,

Gabi:

I don't know. It's like someone did.

Brana:

I was just gonna say, but we said that about Molly and Callum who's gonna compete, who's gonna compete.

Nicole:

And y'all know I'm a Molly, Tom, Stan. Yeah. Me too. Me too.

Gabi:

Me too. But

Nicole:

it's hard. It's tough to get over the breakups. I get it.

Gabi:

I just can't imagine someone like wiping Tanya off of my Shaq and Tanya brain. And then just removing the girl and me loving another girl and him again. That's just, I can't imagine myself getting there. It's honestly, Tanya is like a character like India is so iconic. I can't even imagine someone coming in and replacing India. I

Nicole:

feel like all of the UK feels also about the Tommy Fury and Molly May breakup right now. Who's going to compete? How are they going to do this? Speaking

Langa:

of more couples my news was actually, I was actually shocked but not shocked, is Matilda and Sean are over.

Brana:

Oh, Shawnee.

Langa:

Oh, so

Gabi:

sad. That's so sad.

Langa:

Which is funny because remember somebody said in the limonade and saying this isn't real. I know Matilda on the outside. Didn't Ron call this? Didn't he call this? He was like, She you're not a type Ronnie boy. He also I actually have a topic on him, but we'll come back But ronnie's the one he was like, this is not her type on the outside like this is so he did cool it Okay

Nicole:

Let's roll the tapes in the next episode. See what we predicted. I think we were right we didn't last date. We didn't say they would give them a

Brana:

few we gave them like a few months.

Langa:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so I guess they're like we've had them not in the long term, but You landing exactly how we want them to land. But yeah, I think that was interesting because I also feel like, I'm not always on socials, but if I ever saw them, I feel like they were always on like dates and I think they were always doing things like alone versus some of the Islanders. I always saw them all doing things together. So they were like

Nicole:

a pair,

Langa:

they were like attached at the hip. Yeah. Maybe just in real life. Sean just didn't match her. Like outside. Yeah. I was trying to say no freak, but yeah, so it just didn't match her, like how she lives her life outside the villa. Yeah. Wow. I'm excited to see Matilda single out of the villa. She's on vacation with Uma right now. Her outfits, amazing. Yeah. Speaking of Ronnie, actually randomly, he had a launch, I was yesterday, but Iggy Buff. Is now a thing. I don't actually know what it was. I literally looked at it. I have no idea, but all the Islanders like went on, went to support him at his Iggy Boff thing. And I was like, this is too much. I was like, all I know is there was like a pull up banner and I was like, get out. I read it obviously on our trusted website, the sun. So obviously it must be true, but yeah, Iggy Boff is now a thing. It went from a game to maybe a breakfast sandwich. Okay,

Nicole:

I, hold on hold the group. I need to investigate. What is Eggie Buff?

Langa:

What

Gabi:

went from the game? What could it be besides a sandwich, truly?

Brana:

We could do a collab with Eggslut or something. That

Gabi:

would be ideal,

Nicole:

right?

Gabi:

Oh, it could be

Nicole:

a drink. It could be a drinking game. Okay, so the underscore for the Instagram account is literally Eggie with an I, A G I, underscore. Let's investigate. Here we go. Look at Scoop on the Street live. Scoop on the Street. It's a charity football match.

Langa:

Oh, cute. Oh, this is the ending we never knew we were going to get. We

Nicole:

were like, it's an egg sandwich. It's a sponsorship with. With Eggslut we were coming up with all these ideas. This is more wholesome than I thought. But I like it. I like the idea, Vanna.

Gabi:

I like him now. Ronnie? Yeah. Oh, okay. I think he's I don't know, I see why people like loved him so much. He's funny. He's funny, and he's Like super normal and the thing about his hair. He was like, yeah, I like don't have that much hair and I spray some of my hair. It's not that's just it is

Nicole:

who I

Gabi:

am like I like that

Nicole:

scene. I love him talking about that. Yeah.

Gabi:

Yeah, I really like him.

Nicole:

So it's a charity football match, pretty much with all of the like footballer boys of Love Island. I'm obsessed already. Wait, can we go to this?

Gabi:

Wait, where is it? Wait, it's on our birthday. No, I'm just kidding. It's on the 10th

Langa:

of September. That's so exciting.

Gabi:

All right, everyone, book your tickets, proper chat. Off

Brana:

to London. Offsite.

Langa:

But, Bronda's you don't have to, you don't have to convince Bronda. Yeah, Bronda was like

Brana:

Flight

Langa:

to London. Virgin

Brana:

Atlantis. Oh,

Langa:

my God, brother's okay, I'm back. Oh, any other scoops? Yes. This is allegedly not that important because I feel like now that love violence kind of dwindling down like this, the streets aren't as hot anymore that Joanna and Chris are allegedly dating. Yeah, I never liked Chris. Yeah, so apparently like they're actually childhood friends or have some sort of friendship. So I guess they're doing a lovers to friends trope. And I am a big fan of that. So good for them, but also not, they're not like top runners. But again, it's as I said, the streets have been lukewarm this week. Because being the highlights, Matilda and June breaking up. So that's already telling us where we are. And that is our final. Scoop on the streets for this season, till next season.

Nicole:

Yes, like Lenga said, this is the last episode of our three part series, and probably our season until the winter season, slash games. We're gonna see what the seasons shake out and what we want to cover, but if you want to follow us in terms of updates and what we've been up to, please follow us at proper chat pod on TikTok and Instagram. We will definitely be back but until then, follow us, support our show, subscribe. Follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and until then, stay proper and stay chatting. Yay, love you guys. Great season.

Brana:

Oh my gosh. Wow, that was a wrap.

People on this episode

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Brana Chereshskaya

Host
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Gabi Dorsey

Host
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Langa Ntuli

Host
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Nicole Barton

Host