Charlotte Rezak
Love Island USA films its contestants 24 hours a day—even while they’re sleeping, showering, and becoming intimate—and deprives them of access to the outside world.1 In the US, Love Island and other reality shows have started to implement on-set psychologists, welfare managers, and mental-health screenings.2 Still, allegations of mistreatment remain frequent, and backlash against the treatment of reality TV show contestants is mounting. So why do reality show contestants remain largely unprotected by the law?
Few shows capture the potential harms of reality television like Love Island USA, where the combination of massive popularity, social isolation, and round-the-clock filming leaves contestants particularly vulnerable. An employment lawsuit recently filed by two former producers alleges that the show’s “villa” is a “ramshackle, dilapidated ranch with inadequate plumbing and inoperable bathrooms.”3 Moreover, producers were allegedly “flippant with the concept of sexual consent,” “pressur[ing] female Islanders to engage in sexual relationships," and “openly comment[ing] on video feeds of female Islanders showering and having sex.”4 Love Island USA denies these allegations, but multiple contestants from the show’s UK version have committed suicide, and many more go on to say that they regret appearing on the show.5
These issues are not isolated to Love Island, but rather have been emerging across the reality TV industry. In November 2024, a class action lawsuit filed by Love is Blind contestants settled for $1.4 million, after allegations that contestants were paid below minimum wage, and deprived of rest, food, and water.6 In 2023, Bethenny Frankel made headlines by saying that a “reality reckoning is coming” and demanding better payment for reality TV stars, after revealing that she was paid $7,250 with no residuals for her first season of The Real Housewives of New York.7 In short, reality TV is facing an ethical reckoning - and the law has yet to catch up.
Most contestants on competition-style reality shows like Love Island USA are, by definition, unknowns. The imbalance of power in contracting is obvious; an unknown young person hoping to make a name for themselves on a show would certainly hesitate to negotiate for better treatment or pay. It is clear, therefore, that we need solutions from the law that do not rely on private contracting alone. The National Labor Relations Board provides one idea: in 2024, they issued a formal complaint alleging that Love Is Blind misclassified contestants as “participants” instead of employees.8 If contestants counted as employees, a wider range of meaningful protections would be triggered, including workplace safety standards, protection from wrongful termination, a guarantee of minimum wage, and the ability to organize collectively.
Under current U.S. law, if reality show participants want protection, then they must rely on producers’ generosity, take the risk of negotiating, or sue for damages under tort law after the fact. And tort claims by reality TV contestants are improbable, because such claims require a preexisting legal duty that has been breached. Producers can argue that contestants have contractually assumed the risks of participation, and that the show owes them no independent duty of care beyond what is specified in their contracts.9
The UK offers a different solution. The UK Office of Communications, their equivalent of the FCC, instituted regulations requiring “due care” when “a programme is likely to attract a high level of media or social media interest; the programme features conflict or emotionally-challenging situations; or it requires a person to disclose life-changing or private aspects of their lives.”10 UK reality shows now have explicit responsibilities to their contestants; while they are not employees, the law recognizes that the shows they are on nonetheless hold power over them that it's worth regulating.
In the US, it is clear that protections are not yet adequate. Whether we need an explicit FCC guideline modeled after the UK, or a recognition of participants’ employment status, the question of how to ensure fair protections for reality TV contestants remains unsettled.
[1] Simon Thomas, How 'Love Island USA' Became a 'Perfect Storm' of Reality, Rolling Stone (July 12, 2024), https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/love-island-usa-season-six-showrunner-1235059312 [https://web.archive.org/web/20251024030837/https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/love-island-usa-season-six-showrunner-1235059312/].
[2] Linda Geddes, ‘Greater and greater risk’ in reality TV tests media psychologists’ skills, The Guardian (Mar. 7, 2024), https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/mar/07/greater-and-greater-risk-in-reality-tv-tests-media-psychologists-skills [https://web.archive.org/web/20251024031507/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/mar/07/greater-and-greater-risk-in-reality-tv-tests-media-psychologists-skills].
[3] Stephanie Wenger, Former 'Love Island USA' Staffers File Lawsuit Against Show Producers, People (July 21, 2023), https://people.com/former-love-island-usa-staffers-file-lawsuit-against-show-producers-7564116 [https://web.archive.org/web/20251024032425/https://people.com/former-love-island-usa-staffers-file-lawsuit-against-show-producers-7564116].
[4] Id.
[5] Christal Hayes, What Love Island USA Can Learn from the UK Show's Own Tragedies, BBC News (June 29, 2025), https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg3ek8y2k0o [https://web.archive.org/web/20251024032733/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg3ek8y2k0o].
[6] Daniel Wiessner, Producers of Netflix hit ‘Love is Blind’ accused of US labor law violations, Reuters (Dec. 12, 2024) https://www.reuters.com/world/us/producers-netflix-hit-love-is-blind-accused-us-labor-law-violations-2024-12-12/ [https://web.archive.org/web/20251024033153/https://www.reuters.com/world/us/producers-netflix-hit-love-is-blind-accused-us-labor-law-violations-2024-12-12/].
[7] Jon Jackson, Bethenny Frankel Sparks a Reality TV Revolution over Payments, Newsweek (Jul. 20, 2023) https://www.newsweek.com/bethenny-frankel-ignites-reality-tv-revolution-over-payment-1814379 [https://web.archive.org/web/20251024034037/https://www.newsweek.com/bethenny-frankel-ignites-reality-tv-revolution-over-payment-1814379].
[8] Daniel Wiessner, Producers of Netflix hit ‘Love is Blind’ accused of US labor law violations, Reuters (Dec. 12, 2024) https://www.reuters.com/world/us/producers-netflix-hit-love-is-blind-accused-us-labor-law-violations-2024-12-12/ [https://web.archive.org/web/20251024033153/https://www.reuters.com/world/us/producers-netflix-hit-love-is-blind-accused-us-labor-law-violations-2024-12-12/].
[9] Jennifer L. Blair, Surviving Reality TV: The Ultimate Challenge for Reality Show Contestants, 31 Loy. L.A. Ent. L. Rev. 1, 18 (2010).
[10] Protecting people taking part in reality shows, Ofcom (Oct. 24, 2025). https://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and-on-demand/broadcast-standards/protecting-people-taking-part-in-reality-shows [https://web.archive.org/web/20251024035226/https://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and-on-demand/broadcast-standards/protecting-people-taking-part-in-reality-shows].