The American version of Love Island has finally premiered on CBS, and fans of the original British series already have opinions on how the shows differ. It was impossible the two shows would be identical, after all, but are they really all that different? Depends on who you ask, probably, although many are already hard at work pointing out a few key differences.
The biggest difference is probably the one anyone who hasn't watched either version of Love Island could've predicted. The contestants obviously don't have British accents, which makes the vocabulary of the show a bit different. Many Americans probably don't mind, but fans of the original Love Island do find it a bit jarring.
Sorry to all the non-Americans who tuned in, because Americans don't usually "fancy" anyone even if it is a fancier way of saying "attracted to." That was just some of the British slang that wasn't uttered during the 90-minute premiere, which was also jam packed with a bunch of commercials that British Love Island fans took note of. American programming does run more ads on television than are shown across the pond, so foreign viewers were bound to notice.
As for other complaints, a lot of Love Island viewers found the narrator to be a bit grating. It led to calls for the new guy to be dumped and for the American remake to import the original Love Island's narrator Iain Sterling.
Now, let's keep in mind that these are all rather nitpicky complaints. Is someone really going to drop out of the Love Island remake because contestants aren't saying "bollocks" or the corny jokes of the narrator don't land quite as well without an accent? Some might, but others by and large will undoubtedly stick around if they can handle commercials and painful cliffhangers like the premiere's 90-minute episode ending before Kyra announced the man she'd be stealing from another.
The fact is, for all the snark there are a lot of people happy that Love Island has launched in the U.S. Like the case is with other reality shows like Big Brother, "too much of a good thing" doesn't exist for this fandom, and many expressed that it's pretty great that the new Love Island and the UK Love Island are both on the air at the same time. Bring on the gifs of Queen Bey.
Other positive things mentioned by viewers is that both minority female contestants were chosen relatively quickly in the American Love Island. Apparently, that's not something that happens often in the UK version, and many are thrilled the American version hasn't continued that trend. In fact, quite the opposite as happened, as several are already calling Yamen & Alara their favorite couple of the season.
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But will the love last for the American Love Island, or will Kyra screw it all up with her pick? Find out as CBS is running the new reality series every weekday at 8:00 p.m. ET. Stick with CinemaBlend in the meantime for more major updates on the series and the latest in television and movie news.
