Perfect Match’s Jimmy Sotos reveals why he quit Love Island USA casting after one brutal round
'This is not for me'
Perfect Match’s Jimmy Sotos finally revealed why he never went on Love Island, and it seems like the man was terrified of the chaos.
Despite Netflix randomly dropping a TikToker and former Ohio State basketball player into Perfect Match season four alongside a cast packed with hardened reality TV veterans, Jimmy has now admitted he very nearly ended up in a completely different villa.
Speaking on The Viall Files podcast, Jimmy explained he actually auditioned for Love Island USA first, but bailed almost immediately after realising what he’d signed up for.
When Natalie Joy asked how on earth he got cast on Perfect Match, Jimmy laughed: “Honestly, I don’t even know, man.”
Which is fair, because people have spent the entire season asking themselves the exact same thing.
Jimmy said he originally went through the Love Island casting process, but the vibes were apparently way too unhinged for him. “After the first round…I called my manager and I was like, ‘Hey, this s**t’s not for me. Like no. Hell no,’” he explained.
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Jimmy admitted he knew basically nothing about reality TV before getting dragged into it all. “I don’t really watch reality TV. I don’t really know much about this world,” he said.
But then came the regret.
After seeing Love Island stars blow up online and turn villa chaos into influencer careers, Jimmy suddenly became a lot more open to the idea. According to him, he told his manager he’d now take “whatever opportunity” came next, which somehow led to him auditioning for Perfect Match while he was out playing basketball in London.
A genuinely bizarre career pipeline, if we’re being honest.
And yes, Jimmy is fully aware people were confused when Netflix first announced him as part of the cast. The internet reaction was less “OMG” and more “Sorry…who?”
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But according to Jimmy, people eventually warmed up to him. “The resounding thing I’ve seen is: ‘We did not expect to like you. But you grew on us.’”
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