When should Reality television producers step in?

by Kai Wilson

Huda Mustafa of Love Island USA Season 7

Love Island USA Is Having a Real Moment — But at What Cost?

Like many Americans, I’ve spent a larger part of this summer watching Reality TV than I expected. I’m a fan of Reality TV, so this isn’t so unusual but other fans of Reality TV know summer is when networks put the worst shows on. Think Mama June. Love Island USA, however, is different.

Ever since Peacock obtained the rights to the show from CBS and invested in Love Island UK narrator, Iain Stirling, this show has taken over our summer like it has in the UK. Even basketball fans on social media are more focused on Love Island USA than the NBA Finals or WNBA drama.

Everyone is locked in. So, I think now is the time for the Love Island USA producers to set an example and remove Huda from the show for the best interest of herself, the other contestants, and Reality TV lovers. Viewers do not like watching emotionally unsafe TV. Emotionally unsafe meaning not just uncomfortable to watch like cringe TV, but distressing and potentially retraumatizing for viewers who have lived through similar situations.

Lessons Unlearned from Bravo’s Darkest Dinner Party

I’ve been a fan of Reality TV since I was thirteen, watching the original The Real World (New York City) season on MTV. I’ve seen the most memorable and dramatic scenes Reality TV has to offer. When Bravo decided to start a series centered around rich housewives and their relationships with each other, I was in.

“Scary Island” is a legendary episode of The Real Housewives of New York City. It was one of the first times I can recall Reality TV fans questioning whether the producers should’ve stepped in and pulled a cast member who was clearly having a mental breakdown. Bravo producer Matt Anderson later explained that it wasn’t until after the infamous dinner that they finally decided to send Kelly Bensimon home. He also said that he thinks bringing more producers on the trip would’ve helped the situation, although, I’m not sure that would’ve helped ¹.

At the time it was uncomfortable as a viewer to watch an inebriated Sonja Morgan try and diffuse the situation to keep everyone safe. Yes, people talked about it and still do, but not for good reasons. There’s a difference between cringe TV and unsafe TV.

Watching Huda Feels Dangerous, Not Entertaining

Watching Huda on Love Island USA makes me feel emotionally unsafe as a viewer. I feel unsafe for everyone in the Villa, and I especially feel unsafe for Huda. I grew up in a household run by a mother who struggled with some of the same emotional regulation issues as Huda. When I’m watching, I’m reminded of a time in my life before my mom chose to get therapy. I hope Huda can make the same choice to get professional help once she’s home and sees the feedback about her behavior from viewers.

If the producers have a therapist on set, that therapist should know that Huda will not be able to just listen to the advice of her peers and change her behavior. It will take years of therapy, so they should step in and get her home now and have a therapist set up waiting for her. She will see all of the justified and unjustified negative commentary about behavior and will need help dealing with the fallout. We don’t want a repeat of what happened on Love Island UK to learn our lesson here. Especially since it’s the same production company, ITV.

Is Casting Cruelty the New Strategy?

I‘m not sure if ITV has a psychological test and therapist on set for the Love Island USA cast like they do for the UK version of the show ². “Though these psychological safeguards weren’t implemented until after the deaths of two former contestants ³. One potential USA cast member, Alexa Willis, shared in a Tik Tok that ITV did “personality tests,” but I’m not sure that would help identify people like Huda who need to be in counseling not on a Reality TV show ⁴.

Huda’s emotional immaturity should’ve been spotted pretty early on during the casting process. Casting someone with serious emotional regulation challenges into a high-stress, isolated setting is a recipe for disaster. If she was chosen intentionally for that reason, casting crossed from questionable into cruel and should be held accountable. Specifically choosing someone because of their inability to regulate their emotions is cruel. If she was cast because of that behavior, it crosses from negligence into exploitation. I’m not talking about people who overreact when they get angry periodically and make a huge scene. I’m talking about people like Huda, who react like that to every perceived grievance ten times a day.

Kinetic Content, the production company for Married at First Sight and Love is Blind, is still facing lawsuits from former cast members accusing them of psychological abuse while filming ⁵. You can read their psychological requirements for cast members here ⁶.

Are We Just Watching or Participating?

What is our obligation as viewers? We can vote Huda off, demand that producers remove her from the show, or just simply stop watching. The latter can be hard for some as we may have our favorites that we want to support and don’t want them to suffer from the actions of one or the neglect of the producers. We did try to use our votes when we could, which saved Jeremiah at least. I do see that some of Jeremiah’s actions weren’t always honest, but nothing he did was deserving of the verbal and emotional abuse from Huda. He tried to set boundaries with her, and she reacted by being verbally abusive. When he tried to date someone else, she turned to emotional manipulation.

This is why the producers will have to get her out of the Villa. Based on how she’s been handling the Jeremiah partnership, there’s little reason to believe her behavior will change inside an environment designed to be emotionally stressful.

Reality TV Mirrors Our Reality

One of the things I love about watching Reality TV is that it reflects both familiarity and situations I would never encounter in my everyday life. Do we as a society have an obligation not to turn away from negative behavior? When I was growing up, I had no one to point to for reference as to how my mom behaved and why I reacted to her in the way I did.

When you deal with someone who behaves like this, it can be extremely difficult to verbalize the psychological abuse you go through. You can explain the verbal abuse and, if you’re an adult, sometimes the emotional abuse, but the psychological abuse we’re watching Jeremiah deal with is typical in relationships like this. Something in my inner child heals when I see fellow viewers call out the negative behavior that I couldn’t call out as a child.

Some of the Villa members are also giving us a lesson in what to do when we come across negative behavior like this. After Jeremiah didn’t pick Huda to be his partner, she was emotionally dysregulated and unstable. She was pacing around the Villa, cursing, and verbally abusing Jeremiah. Cierra and Taylor talked to Huda about her behavior and how it was negatively affecting everyone in the most compassionate, yet firm, way. Nic and Ace may not be as kind, but they have set clear boundaries with Huda and Jeremiah about what behavior they will tolerate from their toxic relationship.

Abuse Isn’t a Plot Twist — It’s a Red Flag

Whichever we choose to do as fans of Love Island USA, I hope the show creators understand that we want the show to be safe for the contestants which makes it more enjoyable for viewers. There’s a difference between being emotionally hurt because someone you like chose someone else and being emotionally hurt because another person in the Villa is calling you names. The former is relatable and watching someone overcome heartache can be inspiring.

There’s nothing entertaining about watching verbal and emotional abuse play out, especially for those of us who have lived it. I hope Huda and the producers of Love Island USA will learn something from their choices this summer.

References

1. https://www.bravoTV.com/the-real-housewives-of-new-york-city/bravocon-2022/scary-island-producer-matt-anderson-shares-new-details
2. https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/2346739/love-island-what-are-the-mental-health-tests-contestants-go-through-and-who-is-really-looking-after-their-welfare
3. https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/2408177/love-island-psychological-testing-safeguard-stars
4. https://www.the-sun.com/tv/14505020/love-island-usa-intense-casting-process
5. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/love-them-or-leave-them/202302/love-is-blind-contestants-struggle-without-psychological
6. https://kineticcontent.com/to-all-potential-participants