How to Win Love Island and Influence People

Can we kill the term "girl's girl" now?

Jun 18, 2025

There are a lot of things you don’t want to be called on (inter)national television. “Pussy ass bitch” is one of them. “Not a girls’ girl” is another.1 But on Love Island, a “game player” is maybe the biggest one. No one wants to be accused of just faking a relationship to win the show! Yet, in the history of the show, this has not been a real issue with any winners.

Last season, we had grifters among us in Nicole and Kendall–two people who very obviously had no chemistry and didn’t care for each other but wanted to stay on the show for exposure (and free vacation) for as long as possible. Worked out well for them, but they did not win! Season 10 of Love Island UK also gave us a wholly incompatible couple in Whitney and Lochan (dumb ass name) who were the runners-up and stayed together for a bit, seemingly because both lacked enough mass appeal to get big brand deals on their own, but they were able to bank on them as a couple. Season 5 of UK…Amber and Greg winning over Molly-Mae and Tommy was dumb, but it was because the audience watched Amber have a hard time in there and were rooting for her happy ending as an underdog.

I say all this to say–everyone who comes on Love Island is there for the exposure and wants to stay as long as possible so that they can secure the biggest brand deals possible when they leave, as well as possible future reality TV opportunities. Reality TV has become a truly viable career path for many, so people are showing out when they get their shot. No one is actually coming on this show for love. At best, they’re coming to find a compatible person to boost each other’s social media presence. If they actually happen to fall in love, that’s really just a bonus. Winning the series is not the actual way to win. Winning over the public opinion, thus ensuring your future as a reality TV star and influencer is. The cast of the last season of Love Island USA is proof of this, seeing as they’re getting a spin-off, which I personally think is going to be awful and stupid but other people seem to be excited for. I will change my mind if there is at least one scene where Leah asks Serena and Jana if they remember fighting over Jana cooking Miguel eggs four ways and bringing them to him while he was talking to Serena.

Warning: spoilers ahead for the current season of Love Island USA.

So what can contestants do to make the most of their limited time in the villa?

Last season, Rob put his acting boots on–the eye rolls, the tears over Andrea, throwing himself in the pool…the drama was on a hundred, thousand, trillion. I found it over the top and obnoxious but stupider people than me enjoyed his antics and also fell for his boyish good looks, and thus, he’s been popping up in Poppi commercials and now apparently will be in the new season of The Traitors, which reportedly will also star Maura Higgins. This season, Ace is bringing his best lessons from the Spencer Pratt School of Producing Reality TV From the Inside to Fiji, puppeteering his fellow cast-mates and stirring up drama at any chance he can get. Standing behind Huda last night was a CHOICE. Olandria has been nothing but sweet, kind, respectful and honest and I believe fortune will favor her.2 Nic has been a surprisingly great himbo and an unexpected voice of reason in the villa. Cierra and Chelley are both adorable and lovable–neither are really shaking anything up, but their looks and charm alone will keep them around for a while and secure them some brand deals. Knowing that everyone who enters the villa is some sort of influencer already–they all have TikTok followings–you would imagine that they are just hoping to boost their capital.

But on the other side of the coin, what if going into the villa can destroy your reputation, thus tanking your career as an influencer? Granted, I don’t actually think this is fully possible, since there is a whole sect of people who grift on “cancel culture”–let’s keep an eye on Yulissa’s future brand deals and podcast appearances. But for someone like Huda, who is already a fitness influencer with sponsors, is her Bad Girls Club behavior something that could lose her followers and brand deals? Of everyone in the villa, she seems to be the most unaware of the public opinion of her, which is largely negative. Just check the official Love Island USA app to see how she loses every popularity vote and how much people want her to go home. Meanwhile, other people in the villa are careful about how they interact with her as a person who appears to be mentally unwell and in crisis, hesitant to speak out on her bad behavior. Nic, Ace, Olandria and even Cierra have bravely put their two cents in a few times, but it doesn’t register with her anyway.

I was one of many who were shocked and infuriated to see Huda’s fellow Islanders stand behind her and keep her on the island last night. I think people are scared of her and how she may react to any form of rejection, given the volatile behavior she’s exhibited in the villa already, but I also think they’re scared of how they’ll be viewed by the public if they don’t stand behind her, literally and figuratively. If the girls didn’t stand behind her–including Iris, who had genuinely no reason to and every reason to stand behind Jalen instead–they may end up carrying the risk of being labeled “not a girl’s girl,” which is social media suicide. In the past, I’ve criticized the boys’ club mentality of Love Island, but this time around, it’s actually the girls’ girls’ mentality that’s ruining the show.

Chat, is it feminism to enable a mentally unwell at best and self-absorbed, delusional, rude, entitled and violent at worst person who has terrorized the villa and sucked all the fun energy out of being on a literal beautiful island vacation with fellow hot, young people?

Unfortunately, the people in the villa have no idea what the public opinion of them is unless there’s a game where tweets are read with people’s names intentionally left out for their fellow Islanders to guess about who the subject is (though even that is not accurate since it’s clearly tarnished by production, as proven last year when they dug up an old tweet about Aaron from his appearance on another show where someone called him cute, meanwhile while he was in the villa every tweet about him was about how shady, goofy, and generally hated he was by the public) OR they’re incisive enough to put two and two together in the wake of a public vote/re-coupling, which Olandria and Jeremiah seemed to be able to do, but Huda did NOT. With no access to public opinion, the girls in the villa can only go off of what they assume, and considering Huda’s unrivaled dedication to playing the victim, it’s not THAT insane to picture them believing that the public is on Huda’s side and therefore want her fellow girls supporting her.

In all of my years of watching Love Island and other reality TV shows with clear villains, no one has been as brutally unaware as Huda. No one has managed to suck everyone’s energy and genuinely scare people the way she has. It’s a bit mad to me that she was able to pass the mental health assessment to get on the show and that production doesn’t seem to be stepping in to help her, but sadly, big crash-outs make for good TV so they’re unlikely to care. The thing is, this isn’t even fun or good TV anymore. It’s draining. It actually sucks to not get the chance to know other couples and contestants because Hurricane Huda makes everything about her misery. You would think a person as clearly miserable as her would want to leave! Maybe go home to her daughter and family and have some love and support. But the evil smile she wore last night as her minion Islanders stood behind her proves that she is only concerned with herself and winning, not the show, but something. I don’t think she even knows what she’s going for. Vindication? At what cost, though? Ace may be the ringleader of the guys, but Huda has full control over the girls, and that influence is seeping over into the guys’ side, too. It’s genuinely painful to watch.

I don’t know whose influence is stronger at this point–Ace’s or Huda’s–but I know that Ace’s ringleader tactics are for the purpose of driving drama and often (unfortunately) he makes good points to back up the missions he sends his minions on, while Huda is operating from a victim narrative with zero self-awareness, a total discredit of all logic, and relying on fear to drive her minions to support her, and none of that feels good or fun to watch.

I can only hope that the silver lining to come out of it is that people will see the harmful ramifications of abusing the term “girl’s girl” and the idiotic precedent it sets for women who rely on a satiated follower base to pay their bills.

Anyway. Here are my other thoughts on this season of Love Island USA so far:

I’m fully Nicolandria-pilled. The fancams have got me good. And Nic has genuinely and clearly expressed his interest and attraction to Olandria more than Taylor ever has. Seriously, has Taylor even ONCE told her she looks beautiful?
Also would love to see Cierra and Chelley coupled up! Ace is not good enough for my girl like, at all.
This season has me rooting for white men I would never stand behind in any other circumstances. Austin keeps making good points, Nic keeps calling out BS. Is this how people felt when they were saying they like Ariana Madix’s evil ex, Tom Sandoval?
Taylor never tells Olandria how beautiful she is, how good she looks, nothing. In their chats comparing their connection to her connection with Jalen, she often referenced how Jalen focuses more on her looks than her personality, while Taylor connects with her on a more mental level, and I don’t really think that’s true. I also think her repeating that point multiple times is possibly a hint to Taylor to start stepping it up and complimenting her the way she deserves. Nic has no problem doing it! I also hope that they don’t show the clip of Taylor telling Ace he’s not attracted to her during Movie Night because that would just be hurtful.
I actually love Amaya baddddd. She reminds me of so many girls I went to school with who weren’t the brightest crayons in the box but did have the brightest spirits and I love her for that. I also think her and Austin are on the same wavelength (and reading level).
Also love Hannah and how she’s been playing the game. Like yes, girl. You are young, hot and single–go wherever your hormones lead you! Don’t waste time crying over Charlie! Not to mention, her and Pepe had real chemistry from their first interaction. They went to the same college and have matching tattoos. I could see a lil something for them!

One thing this season has given us is a lot of good jokes on Twitter. Twitter should be paying Love Island for giving it juice!! I haven’t used it consistently in ages but the Love Island tweets are not to be missed. Behold some faves: