The seven strictest (and strangest) rules the US Love Islanders must stick to for season eight
Woah, Islanders can't know the time?
The whole concept of Love Island is that a group of hot young things have a wild (and raunchy) summer together. But since Love Island US is a TV show, participants must abide by some very strict (and often very strange rules). Here are seven oddly specific rules the season eight US Love Islanders must follow, if they want to avoid being booted out the villa.
1. Say goodbye to the internet
It’s pretty well-known that Love Islanders are banned from bringing their own phones into the villa. The crew hand out specific devices that Islanders can use to take photos, get texts from the producers, and not much else. Participants can’t watch TV, listen to music, or even read physical books.
2. Your family can’t post from you social media, either
The producers introduced a new rule for 2026. During previous seasons, it was the norm for Islanders to select a friend or sibling to run their social for them while they were in the villa. After the online conversation about some season seven Love Islanders got particularly nasty, producers decided that in 2026, even this wouldn’t be allowed. Woah, I hope Islanders can still force a friend to keep their Snapchat streaks going.
3. Clothes can’t have logos on
According Phoebe Siegel, who was on Love Island USA season four, there are strict rules about clothes. She claimed on her TikTok that after Islanders fly to Fiji, producers ransack their suitcases and check items don’t have any recognisable logos or brand labels.
TV producers often don’t want people to wear clothes with logos, as then that company is essentially getting an advert without paying for it.
4. You can’t know what time it is
This sounds strange, but it’s standard procedure for most reality TV shows. Participants in the Love Island USA villa (generally) aren’t allowed to know the time. Their dummy phones don’t show the real time, and they get woken up in the morning by the bedroom lights, not alarm clocks. There are no clocks decorating the villa. Producers of reality TV shows seem to feel that if people aren’t thinking about the time, they will become more immersed in the experience.
5. Alcohol is really limited
If you signed up to lie by a pool in Fiji all summer, you’d expect to be slinging back fruity cocktails. But alcoholic beverages in the Love Island villa are strictly limited. Occasionally, Islanders win a cocktail party or something as a reward in a challenge, or get drinks as part of a date. But on a typical evening, Islanders are only allowed one drink of something quite weak such as wine. Former Islanders have claimed the beverages aren’t particularly large, either.
The season four US Islander Phoebe Raye claimed she “left with a very low alcohol tolerance”. She said her nightly ration of wine was “not a generous pour”. When the girls in Casa Amor had a party, they could choose drinks with vodka or tequila in, but the spirits were “watered down” with plenty of mixer.
@phoeberaye Replying to @Sophie Shemirani hope this answers your question:)) #loveisland #loveislandusa #loveislandedit #contestant #realitytv #nyc #casaamor #askmeanything
6. Make-up must be covered in black tape
Just like the clothes, make-up can’t have visible brand names on. The crew use black type to cover up the names on products.
7. No leaving the villa
Obviously, participants are independent beings with free will who technically can walk out the doorway whenever they like. But unless an Islander is sent on a date, they’re not supposed to wander in and out the villa whenever they feel the urge to stretch their legs.
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