Ariana Madix Assures Fans ‘Love Island USA’ Is Not Rigged: ‘Don’t You Start Making Up Conspiracies’

“Love Island USA” Season 7 host Ariana Madix told TheWrap she’s stepped into a new role this season: conspiracy debunker. 

While the hostess and self-proclaimed superfan enjoys engaging with fans’ content online, often reposting and responding in the comments, Madix said she will not tolerate fans calling the show “rigged.”

“You can have whatever opinions you want to have about the show itself, but I will tell you: Don’t you start making up conspiracies,” she told TheWrap Monday. “I’m not a conspiracy theorist, so I’m the debunker.”

The Peacock reality series has garnered 623 million video views to-date on TikTok as of June 23, up 232% since last season. The former “Vanderpump Rules” star it’s been exciting to see that growth since joining at the beginning of Season 6. She added she regularly tears up seeing fans attend watch parties across the country and making edits of their favorite couples. 

In passionate online chatter about this season, hot takes run wild. Some fans have been stumped by the lack of romantic connections forming nearly a month into the series. Madix credits this hesitation to couple up to the cast skewing younger in age.

“When they say online that Gen Z is a little bit more reserved or nervous to be considered cringe, I did notice that,” she said of hosting the series the past two seasons. The host noted that once the Islanders first arrived and even the first night in Casa Amor the cast seemed nervous and took a little extra time to warm up. 

Her advice to the Islanders — if she was allowed to speak to them candidly in the Villa, she said — would be that none of it’s permanent and they can always change their mind, especially if they refuse to be “closed off.”

“As an elder millennial, I just want to tell them that to be cringe is to be free,” she added.

To the critics that say the show feels more gamified this season, Madix said the series always has had an element of that. Even she, who has a front row seat to the drama, can never predict what will happen. But the reality star herself said that it’s impossible to calculate appearances for the camera 24/7.

“As much as someone might try to gamify the show for themselves while they’re in there as an Islander, you cannot for 24 hours a day,” she said. “It’s nearly impossible to really be able to fully keep that mask on at all times.”

“If America does feel a certain way about certain Islanders, they do get their say,” she said, encouraging fans to vote online in the show’s final two weeks. “So if someone is trying to super gamify everything, and if they find out that they’re in the bottom, they’ll be like, ‘Wait, oh.’”

The reality star turned Broadway actress said hosting the reality series feels like embodying another character. She enters the Villa to a countdown track. She dresses to the nines, but the reality star said that one of the hardest parts is staying unbiased when interacting with the Islanders.

During Friday night’s heated recoupling at the end of Casa Amor, Madix said she had some advice she wished she could have given to Olandria Carthen after her longtime partner Taylor Williams chose a new bombshell over her four weeks into the experience.   

“I really wish I was able to talk to Olandria and tell her like, ‘This is for the best,’” she said. “We still want Taylor to find love too. I want Clarke to find love too. But I also want Olandria to find love with someone who, like isn’t breadcrumbing her, isn’t sure if they’re attracted to this goddess of a woman.” 

The host joked she tried to “telepathy all of that to her brain,” while keeping her composure.

“I almost wish I could have just said, ‘I know this is hard right now in this moment, but trust me, it is a redirection to what is meant for you,’” she said. “But of course I can’t say that.”

“Love Island USA” Season 7 airs every day except Wednesdays on Peacock. The season finale is Sunday July 13.

The post Ariana Madix Assures Fans ‘Love Island USA’ Is Not Rigged: ‘Don’t You Start Making Up Conspiracies’ appeared first on TheWrap.