Exclusive | The villa comes to LA as Love Island USA watch parties pop up across the city heres where to couple up
On Monday night in Hollywood, over 200 fans packed into a sports bar to scream, gasp and collectively lose their minds — over a group of swimsuit-clad singles flirting and making out on a tropical island in Fiji.The occasion was the kickoff of “Casa Amor,” arguably the most anticipated twist of the season on Peacock’s hit dating reality TV show, “Love Island USA.”For those not in the know, the show strands a group of contestants looking for love — known as Islanders — inside a luxury villa where they must couple up to survive elimination.The goal is simple: find love, make it to the finale, convince viewers at home to vote for you as the winning couple, and win $100,000 (and that’s before the onslaught of social media followers you’ll reap).But what has transformed the dating competition into a cultural phenomenon is its near-nightly schedule and endless stream of plot twists, betrayals and racy hookups that give fans something new to obsess over almost everyday.Reality Bar has capitalized on that obsession by hosting free watch parties five nights a week at up to four different bars across Los Angeles, turning solitary couch-viewing into a spectator sport — move over soccer fans.Monday’s event centered around the arrival of Casa Amor, the show’s infamous loyalty test that sends a fresh batch of singles into the villa to tempt contestants away from their existing partners.When the episode played at 8 p.m.
at The Palm and The Pine in Hollywood, the crowd was already chanting “Casa! Casa! Casa!” as bartenders hustled themed drinks like a “Coupled Up Cosmo” or “I’ve Got a Text-ini” to a packed room.Every time host Ariana Madix appeared on screen, the crowd erupted.When islander Aniya locked lips with a new contestant, the room practically shook.
But for many attendees (none of them World Cup fans), the gathering wasn’t just about the show.It was about community.“When I come here, I literally feed off the energy and everyon...