Performativeness Killed The Reality Star

Imagine a world where there are millions of people watching you at any given moment, and you have no idea what moments they see. You only know that every second you are awake, there is a possibility that it will be livestreamed to your friends, family, co-workers, and maybe even your childhood preschool teacher. In reality, you would be awkward, anxious, and hyperaware of the cameras filming from every angle. Yet, every year, tens of thousands of applications are submitted for the reality television show Love Island USA. 

Three years ago, if you asked any self-respecting reality television enthusiast about Love Island USA, they would reply that it is the vastly inferior little sister of the goliath Love Island UK. However, this sentiment completely changed in the summer of 2024. Due to social media’s influence, season six of Love Island USA doubled its viewership in a single week, and the show’s popularity surged. It completely changed the dynamic, as the contestants themselves had no idea of the show’s cultural impact. They acted like normal people who had forgotten the cameras were rolling — crying, yelling, and laughing — all the while, they had no idea that outside the villa, they were gaining hundreds of thousands of followers. After season six’s immense success, audiences anxiously awaited the following season in 2025. However, as each episode aired, audiences expressed dissatisfaction with the contestants, feeling that the show lacked the authenticity the previous season had captured so well. Contestants’ awareness of audience perception and self-surveillance, consequently, led them to perform in unnatural ways, causing modern reality television to lose its former charm. 

Before the art of influencing became a lucrative career, contestants' motivations to go on reality television were the desire to win a prize, to find love, or, in the case of Big Brother, sometimes just to cause chaos. Many contestants could dedicate a few months of sacrificed privacy, then return to a relatively unchanged life. When viewership was lower, contestants had the choice of whether they wanted to pursue a life in the limelight; however, now, reality contestants see their participation as a fast track to gaining thousands of followers. But to gain followers, contestants have to be likable.

The integration of social media careers into reality television means that being unpopular threatens your livelihood, making audience perception the most critical aspect of show participation. This prioritization of the audience over their fellow contestants constructs unnatural relationships, as people are less or more likely to act because of external factors, rather than personal feelings. Past competitors have admitted that Love Island USA stars sit around and speculate about how the audience views them. In one instance, during a challenge in season seven, the producers of Love Island USA allowed contestants to see how the audience ranked them in voting. Knowing these perceptions rules how each person approaches their relationships with others in the house.

For example, in Love Island USA season seven, contestant Cierra Ortega’s love interest kissed Ortega’s friend Olandria Carthen. Ortega reacted calmly, as if she did not care. In response, Iris Kendall told Ortega, “Cool, like you’re a cool girl, but that’s f—ing crazy.” Audiences did not view Ortega’s nonchalant reaction as mature, as she likely intended it; rather, viewers perceived it as fake, and Kendall’s response captured that. In accordance with their social media presences, many contestants believe they should put forward their perfect selves to maximize their likability. Instead, this idea has the opposite effect, making audiences dislike contestants more. Think about it: Imagine you were put on an island with a bunch of 10s, each lacking loyalty to one another, and deprived of basic luxuries like sleep, time-keeping, and good food; you would be acting a little crazy, too. On the contrary, when contestants act in a robotic or calculated way, it breaches trust between the audience and the stars.

Due to the anonymity of social media participation, audiences can easily mobilize mass hate and direct it at contestants. Hate is harder to monetize after the show because people will be less likely to buy whatever product the contestant is selling. Therefore, to avoid this modern mob, contestants calculate their actions to maximize their return for the risk taken. For example, during season seven of Love Island USA, after contestant Bryan Arenales discovered that Amaya Espinal was the audience’s frontrunner to win, he coupled up with her purely to win, only staying together until about a week after the reunion. Some watchers felt that Arenales’s move was very transparent and shifty, while others praised Arenales for coupling up with America’s sweetheart. All in all, Arenales likely pursued someone he would not have otherwise chosen because he understood it would increase his likability with the audience and, in turn, enable him to build a career as a public figure. 

While it is easy to blame the people who pursue careers in social media through reality television, the underlying issue is the audience. Without the audience’s ability to determine the fates of contestants, everyone would act strategically in accordance with the rules of whatever show they are on. If they are on Love Island USA, they might be more inclined to leave a relationship they are uninterested in or be more direct in calling people out. Regardless, people watch reality television to see the best and worst parts of humanity come to fruition together. If the audience acts as the moral police, contestants will try too hard to be good and become boring. The average viewer wants messy drama, while also reserving the right to blatantly hate on the instigators. The audience wants to have their cake and eat it too. 

Ultimately, it is this act of self-surveillance by contestants that kills the appeal of reality television. Now, instead of showcasing the spectrum of human behavior, it has become a repetitive interaction of self-perfectionism that one can find on any social media app. That is, of course, because reality television is now just an extension of social media. Because of this, there will never be another season six of Love Island USA. While other smaller reality television shows may attempt to recreate the same phenomenon, having a cast of contestants unaware of the scale of their audience is rare. It will likely never be repeated by this specific franchise again. The stakes made every tear, crash-out, and confession even more meaningful because, for them, it was not just a show but an extension of their real love life. But for now, if viewers love watching pretty people have pretty relationships and talk with pretty words, fans will love the future seasons of Love Island USA.