One of the biggest and horniest reality TV franchises has landed in Israel. Well, sort of. The first season of “Love Island Israel” premiered on August 10, and it was shot on an island in Greece, a couple hours flight away from the country.
For those who don’t know the franchise, which started in the UK in 2015 as a spinoff of the 2005 “Celebrity Love Island,” the show puts up scantily clad and ridiculously good-looking singles in a villa in a remote island. There, they all do everything they can to find and keep a match, because anyone who remains single gets kicked off of the island. The latest season of the show’s U.S spinoff is probably the buzziest reality show of 2024, and it has broken viewing and popularity records worldwide.
The Israeli franchise is hosted by Israeli model and social media star Eden Fines, who is both gorgeous and charismatic, and features singles from across the country and beyond. Two of the contestants hail from Miami — Shir Aazaria, who owns a bar in the city and boasts of having been hit on by none other than Drake, and David Schraer, who works in construction. One of the contestants, Aaron Morali, flew in from Austria and hopes to charm the women with his international accent. Contestant Adel is a DJ and samba dancer who was raised Orthodox in Bnei Brak. Multiple contestants are professional models, and one is a balloon entrepreneur. Basically, it’s a pretty fascinating (and handsome!) cast of faces (and yes, bodies, sigh).
“Love Island Israel” is currently airing on FreeTV, a new Israeli streaming service, with nightly weeknight episodes — tonight its fifth episode premieres. Like any other franchise, it already boasts lots of dramas, twists and turns (including two new surprise contestants), risque challenges, douchey men and what appears to be a copious amount of alcohol, the consumption of which the showrunners assure us is controlled and limited. Unlike many other franchises, it also has a special guest star: a tortoise, who may or may not be the most popular being at the villa.
You can watch the first two episodes on YouTube, though unfortunately without English subtitles. So far, the show doesn’t seem quite as great as the latest season of “Love Island USA,” but maybe it will take some more time for it to hit its stride, and maybe one day you’ll be able to view it on an international streamer. Here’s hoping.
