Is ‘Love Island’ USA rigged? Ariana Madix addresses vote accusations after unexpected elimination
Since ‘Love Island’ USA Season 8 premiered, the Peacock dating show has been making headlines and sparking discussions among the fans. Recently, fans witnessed two islanders, Gabriel and Sol, being dumped from the villa. It happened after America voted, followed by the islanders’ votes. However, the unexpected elimination did not sit well with the fans. There have been various rumors and accusations towards the show makers. The show host, Ariana Madix, reportedly responded to one such comment, as shared by US Weekly. A user commented on Instagram, “They @loveislandusa messing up the show.” The long-time host replied, “Unfortunately, they were not in the top 4.” She also liked another comment that noted that production “can’t tamper with results legally.”
During ‘Love Island’ USA Season 8 Episode 14, Ariana revealed the voting results. According to that, there were three couples: Jen-Gabriel, Kenzie-Corbin, and Sol-Caleb. Later, she also announced another twist: the islanders’ voting. While girls were asked to choose one male contestant, the boys were asked to select one female contestant to eliminate. After the discussion, islanders chose Sol and Gabriel to be dumped from the villa, sparking various accusations from viewers. It was because the two gained a fan following during their time on the show, who were looking forward to them moving forward. However, they were eliminated instead.
Additionally, there have been various discussions among fans on Reddit. One such discussion, titled “Rigged?” was created by u/Hefty_Adeptness_6733 on June 19. Many users shared their thoughts in the discussion board’s comments. u/Hat-Extension commented regarding the possibility of the show being “rigged,” “That’s like super super illegal and opens NBC up to possibly millions of dollars in federal fines and lawsuits from contestants that have been dumped previously as a result of the vote… it sucks, but the results are results.” However, u/ImmoralJester 54 replied, “Actually the contract says they CAN alter the results if they want to.” u/acidizm wrote, “They can’t rig the votes, but they can absolutely rig public perception with the editing.” U/teamosil-zanotab commented, “This season is going sour pretty quick.” A few users also noted that the show might not be rigged. U/LovelyTeeLu added, “This is game show where money is awarded. Therefore, rigging the votes would be illegal.”
As a reality show with a huge global fan base, ‘Love Island’ USA received backlash from fans. Back in June 2025, Ariana addressed similar rumors during her interview with The Wrap. She noted, “You can have whatever opinions you want to have about the show itself, but I will tell you: Don’t you start making up conspiracies. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, so I’m the debunker.” The show host further stated, “As much as someone might try to gamify the show for themselves while they’re in there as an Islander, you cannot for 24 hours a day.” Ariana noted that it would be “nearly impossible” to keep the mask on at all times.
