{"id":64966,"date":"2025-07-14T13:31:25","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T13:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/64966\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T13:31:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T13:31:25","slug":"jacksonville-captivated-by-reality-show-love-island-as-finale-nears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/64966\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville captivated by reality show \u2018Love Island\u2019 as finale nears"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. <\/strong> \u2013 Summer nights in Jacksonville have been gaining a whole new meaning for the past six weeks.<\/p>\n

Bars and restaurants across the area have been packed, passionate fans have been shouting at TV screens, and some have even pushed their bedtimes a little later than usual.<\/p>\n

While that may fit the description of what football season looks like for many people, the reason for this summer craze is definitely not sports-related.<\/p>\n

Instead, you can blame it on one TV show: \u201cLove Island.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Whether you love \u2014 or hate it \u2014 you\u2019ve probably heard of the provocative and controversial reality show that has turned into a cultural phenomenon and that has prompted many bars and restaurants to host watch parties across the country<\/a>, including in Jacksonville.<\/p>\n

RELATED | <\/b>Cierra Ortega exits \u2018Love Island USA\u2019 villa following backlash over resurfaced racial slur posts<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Front Runners Taphouse in Jacksonville and Surfer [The Bar] are among the bars that have been welcoming excited fans of all ages and genders every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday night to watch Love Island Season 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has become kind of like a cult-following, I see everybody online having a conversation about it, so sometimes it\u2019s nice to actually experience the initial watch with people while also reacting,\u201d Dalton Miller, who went to Surfer Bar\u2019s watch party on Tuesday, told News4JAX. <\/p>\n

One thing is for sure: our area has not seen this many people gather to watch reality TV for a really long time.<\/p>\n

So, what makes this show so special?<\/p>\n

In simple terms, Love Island is about what the name implies: finding love on an island, Fiji, specifically.<\/p>\n

But every true fan knows finding love on this show is not an easy task. <\/p>\n

The show, streamed on Peacock<\/a> and hosted by Ariana Madix, has a new episode every day \u2014 except on hump day \u2014 and features about 10 single men and women, known as \u201cIslanders,\u201d who are mostly in their early 20s.<\/p>\n

These \u201cIslanders\u201d are living comfortably in a villa and are constantly met with challenges and temptations, also known as bombshells, in their quest to find love. <\/p>\n

With only one or two-day delays, fans across the country have the power to vote for their favorite, and not-so-favorite couples, and influence who gets to leave the villa and who gets to continue on the show.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m a mommy\u2019… \u2018Mamacita?\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

Among this season\u2019s \u201cIslanders\u201d is Jacksonville native Nicolas Vansteenberghe, 24, better known as \u201cNic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nic, a nurse and model, has been on the show since day one, and he has made quite the impression throughout this season.<\/p>\n

RELATED | <\/b>Jacksonville native to star on upcoming season of Peacock\u2019s Love Island<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

In fact, one of his early interactions with a fellow Islander, Huda Mustafa, has become viral on social media.<\/p>\n

During that conversation, Huda decides to tell Nic that she has a child, which is something that many didn\u2019t know at that point in the show. <\/p>\n

But let\u2019s just say that conversation didn\u2019t go exactly as planned. <\/p>\n

Watch the viral interaction in the video below<\/b><\/p>\n

As of Tuesday night, Nic was still on the show despite losing a \u201cstrong connection\u201d with fellow Islander Cierra Ortega, who left the villa just a week before the finale<\/a> amid backlash over resurfaced racial slur posts. <\/p>\n

Another contestant, Yulissa Escobar, was also pulled from the show in the second episode of the show after clips of her using racist language resurfaced online.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no question this season of Love Island has been full of drama, love and even controversy \u2014 the perfect recipe to create a whole social movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not really a reality TV show watcher, I got into it because I wanted to talk about something easy and careless with other people. And then, I really got into it and it even made me cry,\u201d Jamie Iovino, who attended the watch party at Surfer bar, told News4JAX.<\/p>\n

According to reports, this season has set a new bar in the series franchise, with over 1 billion minutes streamed across the first nine episodes.<\/p>\n

Where to watch the season finale<\/b><\/p>\n

This season ends on Sunday, July 13, and there will be several watch parties at different locations in the Jacksonville area.<\/p>\n

Surfer Bar: <\/b>200 1st St. North in Jacksonville Beach<\/p>\n

Front Runners Taphouse: <\/b>3605 Philips Hwy in Jacksonville<\/p>\n

Dua Lounge: <\/b>8532 Baymeadows Rd in Jacksonville<\/p>\n

Beach Bowl: <\/b>818 Beach Blvd in Jacksonville Beach<\/p>\n

Dart Bar & Games: <\/b>1261 King Street in Jacksonville<\/p>\n

The Cavern: <\/b>9825 San Jose Boulevard in Jacksonville<\/p>\n

The show starts at 9 p.m.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. \u2013 Summer nights in Jacksonville have been gaining a whole new meaning for the past…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":64967,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,171,3188,723,7310,10765,45611,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-64966","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-fl","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-jacksonville","13":"tag-jacksonville-beach","14":"tag-love-island","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114851838980628635","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}