10 Things American Viewers Need to Know About Love Island

Unlike most other dating shows, Love Island is savage. Each season, there is one couple you're convinced will win the show, then they'll be split up in a shock dumping a few days later. This usually happens after a public vote where one of the most popular couples will mysteriously be voted as the least popular, and the other islanders will then have to choose one person in that couple to be sent packing. Like I said, it's savage.

In every season of Love Island so far — much like Bachelor in Paradise — there is one couple who will not only survive the entire show but will also get married, have babies, and live happily ever after. Surprisingly, it isn't usually the winners, but rather a random couple who you never think will get together (and will shock everyone by living in blissful, loved-up Insta-fame for years to come).

Unlike Bachelor in Paradise, where it's a bit of a free for all, the couples are taken pretty seriously in Love Island. If one islander wants to "get to know" another islander, they will usually give their partner a heads up — but as you would expect, this bond is often broken and the drama that follows is inevitable.

On that note, the islanders live and die by girl (or bro) code. As with most reality shows, friendships in Love Island are formed hard and fast, so when one woman wants to get to know one of their friends' men (even if it's only on day two), the friendship will be lucky to survive. In the current season of Love Island UK, one islander, Amy, left the show after her close friend confessed to having feelings for her ex because Amy knew they wouldn't get together while she was in the villa, and she wanted them to be happy.

If you've watched the first few episodes of Love Island already, then you'll know that islanders can only share a bed in the room with the person they are coupled up with. So when one islander starts dating an islander from another couple, they are not allowed to share a bed and will sleep on either the couches or the daybeds outside until the next recoupling ceremony, where they can couple up officially (if they make it that far). Singles will also retreat to the daybeds if they have a falling out with their partner.

Midway through the season, when many of the islanders start to (metaphorically) sail off into the sunset in their happy couplings, the producers will move either the men or the women into the neighboring Casa Amor villa, without warning. Then, an entire new set of islanders will enter the villas — the men will meet new women, and vice versa. At the end of the week, each of the original islanders will be forced to decide whether to remain with their original partner or couple up with a new person. There are always one or two long-term couples ripped apart by Casa Amor, but trust me when I say it'll be great TV.

If you let it, Love Island will take over every evening for the next two months. Unlike The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, Love Island airs six nights per week, and with the level of drama going down, watching every episode is crucial. As we're nearing the end of the season in the UK, Love Island fatigue has set in (yes, it's a real thing), and you'll eventually feel it, too. Give yourself over to the process, and trust that the never-ending drama will be worth it.