Love Island USA Seasons Ranked From Worst to Best

Love Island USA seasons ranked

From faded foundation tears to sneaky escapes to soul ties, Love Island continues to take over the cultural zeitgeist as each season rises in popularity. We ranked Love Island USA‘s seasons from worst to best for your viewing pleasure.

Season 1 (2019)

Image Credit: Courtesy of CBS.

The first attempt at anything is bound to have a few kinks. Hosted by Arielle Vanderberg, this season filmed in Fiji during its rainy season. Islanders swapped sunbathing for wading through rain puddles. Elizabeth Weber and Zac Mirabelli won the inaugural season after connecting at first sight and surviving in the same couple through the final. Watching their Disney romance was sweet. However, Love Island Games contestant Ray Grantt and his argument-heavy relationship with Caro Viehweg stole the show. Kyra Green, Love Island Games contestant and series favorite, is also from this season. Season one also ranks the lowest due to the lack of Casa Amor. Viewers missed the bombshell-heavy twist from the UK series as the source of the show’s best drama.
Season 3 (2021)

Image Credit: Courtesy of CBS.

When thinking of season three, Cashay Proudfoot’s purple fade stands out, along with her promising relationship with Cinco before it fizzled out. Her confidence in wearing a traditionally masculine haircut on national TV in a romantic setting convinced me to opt for a similar haircut.

While this season was full of drama and seemingly infatuated couples, the dumping twist fell flat among viewers. Instead of a mixture of public votes and islanders’ choice, the islanders voted for every dumping outside of recouplings. Viewers, including myself, felt alienated and voiceless due to the lack of interaction. Olivia Keiser and Korey Gandy secured the grand prize after coupling up for the first time and disbanding a love triangle days before the final. The love matches struggled this season, as seen in the final, which featured a second recently coupled pair in addition to the winners.
Season 4 (2022)

Image Credit: Courtesy of Peacock.

Sarah Hyland joined season four as the new host, replacing Arielle Vanderberg amidst a series of shifts as the show relocated to Peacock. This season also saw the introduction of Love Island UK’s narrator, Iain Stirling, to the US franchise, bringing his iconic zany personality and commentary. This was a thoroughly entertaining season of drama between Sydney Paight and Isaiah Campbell’s constant conflicts and winners Timmy Pandolfi and Zeta Morrison’s connection that withstood stolen recouplings and bold bombshells. The winning couple went on to date outside the villa before announcing their split in a January 2023 podcast interview with Murad Merali.

“I feel like your person should be the person who gasses you more than the public and your family and everyone,” Zeta shared with Merali. “They just want to lift you up all the time and just see you be your best self, and I felt like he was like, ‘You get enough of that from everyone else, so you don’t need it from me.’ But that’s who I wanted it from.”
Season 5 (2023)

Image Credit: Courtesy of Peacock.

Back in Fiji again, season five is the first season to feel like a Love Island show. Every episode was jam-packed with drama between the return of Scott Van-der-Sluis, who previously appeared on season 10 of Love Island UK, the US debut of Movie Night, where islanders watch salacious clips of each other during Casa Amor and several blowout arguments. Kay Kay and Keenan created the slogan for the terrace this year after Keenan took another woman to the hidden space. “Soul ties is crazy” quickly became a staple in the season and the overall Love Island culture. Hannah Wright and Marco Donatelli won this season, coupling up on day two when Hannah entered as a bombshell. The couple professed their love for each other on the show and made their relationship official after their win. Hannah moved to Boca Raton to move in with Marco and celebrated National Girlfriend Day together in August 2024.
Season 2 (2020)

Image Credit: Courtesy of CBS.

One would never expect the season filmed during the Covid-19 pandemic to sit in the top two, but boy does season two deliver. Due to the traveling restrictions, this season took place on the rooftop of Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Despite the unique scenery, this season produced some of Love Island’s most popular cast members, including Cely Vasquez, Justine Ndiba, part of the winning couple, and Carrington Rodriguez. While Love Island is about finding a romantic partner, viewers stay tuned for the genuine friendships built among the islanders. Cely and Justine’s newfound friendship stole the show, displaying a level of love and affection that outshined many couples this season. Justine and Caleb Corprew secured the win this season but split shortly after leaving the villa. Despite the lack of lasting relationships, season two is widely recognized as one of the most rewatchable seasons
Love Island Games (2023)

Image Credit: Peacock

Love Island Games brought together the franchises’ most iconic islanders from the US, UK, and Australian series for another chance at love. This time, islanders who appeared in previous seasons returned to compete in both team and couple challenges in addition to the show’s original format of recouplings, dumpings, and twists. Love Island favorites like Toby Aromolaran from UK season seven, Cely and Justine from US season two, and Georgia Steel from US season four. Instead of focusing on love, islanders worked to determine if their partner was in it for the money, love, or both. Justine, winner of US season two, secured her second Love Island win alongside her partner Jack Fowler. As the duo expected to win, the couple fought through sabotage and recouplings to secure their win.
Season 6 (2024)

Image Credit: Courtesy of Peacock.

Rarely does a season check all of the boxes, but season six of Love Island USA comes close. Over eight weeks, viewers witnessed genuine friendships build between Serena Page, JaNa Craig, and Leah Kateb, bromances with Aaron Evans and Rob Rausch, devastating Casa Amor liaisons, the return of two islanders and heartwarming rekindlings. Ariana Madix of Vanderpump Rules joined the season as the new host and introduced the islanders to a new Fijian villa.

The winning couple, Serena and Kordell, brought viewers on a ride after Kordell returned from Casa Amor with Daia McGhee, leaving Serena standing at the fire pit alone after days of avoiding the bombshells and choosing to sleep outside. The couple’s blowout fight on the dock is forever engrained in Love Island history. Aaron and Kaylor Martin also battled through a season of mistrust and tested the connection after challenges and chats exposed Aaron’s Casa Amor activities. This season’s iconic heart race challenge set the tone for seasons to come. Rather than overtly sexy dancing in their costumes, islanders chose to have fun as they put on a show to raise the opposite sex’s heart rate with Kordell’s lisp as a nerd and nurse Leah’s medical one-liners.