‘Love Island USA’ Season 8 Premiere: First Couples and Bombshells

Summer is back in session! And with it comes “Love Island USA” Season 8 on Peacock, complete with host Ariana Madix, narrator Iain Stirling and a new set of single islanders looking to find love.

Things officially kick off with the arrival of marketing director and Georgia native Aniya Harvey, who says she’s looking for a husband and expects a ring by the end of the season and fellow Georgian Kenzie Annis, who finished nursing school a day before flying out to Fiji. She says she’s “revirginized because it’s been a year and a half.”

Next up is Melanie Moreno from Philadelphia/Los Angeles, who says she doesn’t use the term girl’s girl — “If you hear that shit, red fucking flag” – which may or may not be in reference to the Season 7 contestants that repeated the line throughout their run.

Rounding out the group of women is Paralympian Beatriz Hatz and Trinity Tatum. Hatz is from San Diego, runs track and field and considers herself competitive, while Tatum, who quit her hardware store job for “Love Island,” jokes that she’s “a personality hire” and is looking for a “golden retriever” type of man.

The sixth female contestant (Vasana Montgomery) was kicked off the show after a video of her singing along to racial slurs surfaced.

Once everyone got acquainted, Madix joined the group and got to the good stuff – why they’re here. Moreno says she hasn’t had much luck in the romantic department but has so much love to give; Tatum joins Harvey in the search for a husband; Annis says she’s “not a roster girl,” (which she does acknowledge is the plot of “Love Island”); Harvey says she dates a lot and won’t settle for less; and Hatz has dealt with men being insecure due to her career.

Bryce Dettloff and Sincere Rhea are the first men to arrive; Rhea does track and field (like Hatz), and is smart enough not to say he could beat a Team USA athlete in a race. Rhea says his parents would call him “a ladies’ man,” and admits to being one: “I would be selfish not to spread the love.” Dettloff, a model based in New York, says he’s “sensitive and emotional” to a chorus of “awws”—and Annis calling him “a simp.” “We’re not saying it’s a bad thing!” she adds.

Next up, Zach Georgiou — Season 7’s Charlie Georgiou’s younger brother–– walks in and introduces himself as a nepo-sibling straight off the bat at Madix’s request. The Birmingham native’s intro is “What Makes You Beautiful,” by the way, since Georgiou “loves One Direction.” In terms of women, he’s looking for a “fun, cool American girl.”

Police officer Sean Reifel (who says he was called “Officer Sexypants” by a civilian and her family) reveals he’s a dad! Papacita? Unlike Season 7’s Huda Mustafa, Reifel is quick to tell the group about his son and the fact that he moved to Pennsylvania to support his child’s mother. Reifel is joined by nursing assistant and Californian KC Chandler, who admits to liking the chase, but “would rather be a lover boy.” He loves his freedom, but would give it up for the right woman, FYI.

Madix crowns them the first 10 islanders of the season, taking them straight into a multiple-choice answer compatibility test where islanders stand behind doors, each marked with answer options. If the door opens to multiple people, contestants must kiss each person on the other side.

Questions range from favorite sex position (with Madix asking the contestants why they each chose said positions); if you’re a dog, cat, or plant person; if it’s okay to check your partner’s phone; and if you’re here to find love – split into no, maybe, and “hell yeah!” – which obviously results in a communal makeout, ensuring everyone has been kissed by every single contestant of the opposite gender.

After the last round, the girls get to pick which boy they want to couple up with. Tatum picks Dettloff, becoming the first couple of the season; Hatz goes for Reifel after the pair kissed in each round of the blind game; no one steps up for Chandler, who is eventually coupled up with Harvey after Rhea chooses Moreno over her; and Annis couples up with Georgiou.

The night doesn’t end there – each pair wanders off to get to know each other, and there’s a lot of talk of the Eagles, Georgiou’s “darker features,” Tatum and Dettloff’s seven-year age gap and country music, which Hatz would “rather acquire another disability” than listen to. Afterward they split into guys vs. girls for a debrief.

Day 2 begins with Tatum saying she’s never had avocado toast before (“Love Island” sacrilege) and Georgiou is unsure “if there’s a vibe” with him and Annis. There was also a makeout sesh for Rhea and Moreno, and Dettloff says he “doesn’t want to steal [Tatum’s] youth” since he’s almost 30 and she’s 22.

Madix appears at night to summon the group to the firepit, where she reveals that each islander will have to decide whether to stay with their partner or start a new connection by standing on the colour-coded green and red dots, respectively, behind yet another set of closed doors.

Before the doors open and reveal the contestants’ choices, two new bombshells enter the villa ready to kiss the contestants on red dots — Gabriel Vasconcelos, who was demoted from OG status to balance out the numbers after Montgomery was booted, ends up leading Tatum and Hatz out of the villa hand-in-hand, while Kayda Reese Bosse picks Georgiou and Dettloff, leaving the rest of the contestants shocked and unsure of what just happened.