Leave it to reality television to forge ahead even in the wake of the pandemic. Well, reality shows that revolve around their contestants being trapped indoors, anyway. Earlier this month, it was reported that Big Brother: All-Stars would begin quarantining contestants for two weeks in Los Angeles in late July before piling them into a house together. Now it’s being reported that the American version of Love Island has started preproduction as well. According to Vulture, it will set up shop in Las Vegas instead of Fiji, where its debut season took place last summer.
Per Vulture, the reality series about modelesque singletons pairing off is in preproduction at the Cromwell, a boutique hotel on the Strip. The hotel has been closed since the start of the pandemic. CBS and ITV declined to comment to Vulture, but the outlet reports that everyone involved in the series will be quarantined ahead of production and tested for COVID-19 throughout filming. Setting the series in Las Vegas skirts the various travel issues that have arisen from the pandemic, including extra restrictions Fiji has rightfully placed on visitors from other countries. This is a major turn for the U.S. version of the show, particularly after the original U.K. version outright canceled its upcoming season because of the virus. The U.K. version typically films in Majorca.
If everything goes as planned, American Love Island will reportedly premiere by the end of the summer, the outlet notes. CBS, which airs the series, is hopeful things will go as planned for Big Brother as well, which it also airs. TMZ reports contestants for the show’s upcoming 22nd season have already arrived in Los Angeles, where they’re being sequestered, quarantined, and tested for COVID-19. Reportedly, Big Brother producers have two groups of contestants to choose from: the core group and the alternates, who will be subbed in if core cast members test positive for the coronavirus. Contestants who are reportedly quarantining for the season are: Josh Martinez, Daniele Donato, Paulie Calafiore, Nicole Franzel, Tyler Crispen, Janelle Pierzina, Ian Terry, Hayden Moss and Bayleigh Dayton.
Both Big Brother and Love Island are uniquely situated for pandemic filming, as both shows revolve around contestants roving around a house that they pretty much never leave. The shows are also largely shot via dozens of hidden cameras planted around their respective houses, minimizing contact between camera crews and contestants. While other networks and streamers are adapting to this new normal, even planning new socially distanced productions about the current time period, shows like Big Brother and Love Island have been prepared for it all along.
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