The wait for Love Island USA Season 2 is getting closer, which is excellent news for fans.
A new location and a premiere date for Big Brother means it won’t be long before Love Island USA hits the airwaves. The two reality TV shows took over CBS primetime in July 2019.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, the network planned once again to make Big Brother and Love Island USA their reality TV summer staples.
Now new details have emerged, giving fans insight into what the new season of both shows will look like. For Love Island USA, it will be quite different than the inaugural season.
New location
Season 1 of the reality TV show took place in a secluded villa in Fiji. The islanders, as show narrator Matthew Hoffman called the contestants, only had interaction with each other.
They were cut off from the world, except for text messages from producers giving direction. Oh, and the occasional visit from host Arielle Vandenberg. Although when the islanders saw Arielle, it generally meant someone was getting booted from the villa.
Vulture has spilled the new location of Love Island USA will be in Las Vegas. The report shared preproduction is taking place that will see contestants confined to the Cromwell hotel, which is a boutique hotel under Caesars Entertainment. It has been shut down since March due to coronavirus pandemic.
Creating the show within a closed hotel allows production to move around without the worry of interacting with guests. It also gives the show the secluded space it had in Fiji.
Testing and social distancing
CBS and ITV Entertainment will reportedly require the cast and crew to quarantine before production begins. Everyone that has to be onsite at the hotel will be tested for COVID-19 before and during filming.
The network will use the new standard social distancing and sanitization protocols, much like CBS has done with its two soap operas. For the crew, that means working in pods to limit interactions.
The contestants are a different story. Fans know the first season involved the islanders getting close pretty much at all times. There was a slew of kissing, making out, and generally just being physical with each other. After all, the premise of the show is to find love.
It will be interesting to see how CBS and ITV Entertainment tackle social distancing while creating a show that focuses on making a love connection.
Premiere date
Love Island USA Season 2 was initially set to premiere in May. The show intended to air Monday-Friday with a recap of the week on Saturday night. Like last year it was to run for a little over four weeks and air in real-time.
One good thing about the show is that since it is shot in real-time, CBS can get in on-air quickly once it gets up and running. Even with quarantine, there is a good chance the reality TV show could be on air by mid-August.
Now that Big Brother is up and running, with a premiere date for August, Love Island USA is next. The network may wait a little longer for Love Island USA to fill a gap likely to occur in content for the fall due to pandemic.
Love Island USA is currently on hiatus on CBS.