10 Things American Viewers Need to Know About Love Island

Updated on 7/31/2019 at 1:20 PM

If this is the first you're hearing about Love Island, buckle up, because it's about to become your newest reality TV obsession.

In short, Love Island combines the things you love most about other dating shows: it involves young, beautiful people who are looking for romance being locked in a villa in a tropical location, and similar to Bachelor in Paradise, there will be regular "recoupling ceremonies" where each islander must partner with an islander of the opposite sex. There will also be regular eliminations — referred to as "dumpings" — like in The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, but it will all be treated with the same level of calculated strategy and seriousness as Survivor.

Based on everything that's gone down in all seasons of Love Island in the UK to date, here are a few things you should know — and look forward to — while watching the American installment this Summer.

Love Island Basically Has Its Own Language

With five seasons of Love Island under our belt in the UK, we're confident in telling you that one phrase will become the slogan of the season. Not only that, but the show basically has its own language, and as you watch, it will quickly be added to your own vocabulary, too. Here are a few phrases that have become synonymous with Love Island — a lot of these are specific to the British version of the show, but if they do sneak in, you'll have no trouble understanding:

"My type on paper": One of the most overused phrases in Love Island history, "my type on paper" is used by islanders to describe whether someone is their typical romantic type. It can be used as a positive — "they are 100 percent my type on paper" — or, alternatively, as a backhanded compliment — "you aren't really my type on paper, but I fancy you anyway."
"It is what it is": Popular in the current season of Love Island UK, the meaning of "it is what it is" is self-explanatory and commonly used after being dumped — always by the dumpee.
"I'm loyal, babe": You know what they say: if you have to tell someone you're loyal, then maybe you're not as loyal as you think.
Pie: Not just a delicious dessert, "pie-ing someone off" means you have rejected them.
Crack on: Cracking on is the opposite of being pied (you get it).
Eggs in baskets: In the villa, there is always a lot of chat about putting eggs in baskets and, more specifically, not putting all of them in one basket. Imagine you have eggs to give to your potential partners — if you ask the islanders, having your eggs in a few baskets (at least in the beginning) is ideal.

Graft: Grafting refers to the work you put in to get to know a man or woman to convince them to like you.
"Do you want to go for a chat?": When one islander says the words "wanna go for a chat?" or "can I pull you for a chat?" to another islander, it usually means that drama or a hookup — or both — is imminent. If I had a dollar . . .

In Love Island, Even Happy Couples Will Be Split Up

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.

1 Surprising Couple Will Survive the Show

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).

The Islanders Take Their Couples Very Seriously

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.

Above All Else: Girl Code (and Bro Code)

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.

At Least 1 Person Will Be Sleeping on the Daybeds at All Times

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.

There's a Little Place Called Casa Amor

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.

The Narrator Is Supposed to Be Your Favorite Person on the Show

The voice of Love Island — in this case, Matthew Hoffman — is the beating heart of the show, with good-humored jabs and jokes that poke fun at the islanders as they are put in ridiculous scenarios while looking for love. Basically, he's the voice of reason, saying exactly what you're thinking right after you post it in your group chat.

The Real Fun Goes Down on Twitter

Between grainy (and creepy) night-vision shots of the islanders staring at the ceiling while everyone else sleeps and downright stupid challenges designed to make the audience double over with laughter, Love Island is wonderfully meme-able. Of course, this makes for great Twitter fodder as the episodes air, and most of the time the conversations are more hilarious than the show itself.

Love Island Will Consume Your Life

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.