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In a dramatic recent episode of the hit Peacock reality dating show Love Island USA, dubbed the “red wedding” by actress/host Sarah Hyland — it was the host herself who ended up in the hot seat after a weird and contentious confrontation with one of the show's contestants, Mike Starks.
The situation already had fans on the edge of their seats when Hyland revealed that Keenan Anunay had the least votes of any of the males on the show and was therefore being dumped. Vickala Gray, who had been coupled up with Anunay, then asked to speak during the dumping ceremony — which is the official time and place at which contestants are broken up with, not to be confused with the “dumping ceremony” on Big Brother, which I imagine is what contestants call their morning bathroom routine on that show. Anyway, Gray declared in dramatic fashion, “I would like to voluntarily also leave. I feel like I found what I came here for and I’d like to leave with Keenan.”
This surprise action caught everyone off guard, so Hyland stepped in to ask, “Before you go anywhere, I just… I want to make sure that you’re absolutely happy with your decision.”
“No regrets,” Gray replied.
Then, doing his best Larry David impression, Islander Mike Starks decided to inject himself into the middle of the conversation after he seemed to perceive a tone from Hyland that he didn't care for. Starks asked Hyland, “Why are you saying it like that?”
A stunned Hyland asked, “Me?”
“Yeah, it sounded mad disrespectful,” Starks continued.
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“I’m being disrespectful?” Hyland wondered.
“Yeah,” Starks said firmly.
Hyland, who appeared miffed, responded, “OK, then.”
It was all pret-ty, pret-ty awkward. And it didn't end there. Another contestant, Leonardo Dionicio, whose name must constantly get auto-corrected to Leonardo DiCaprio when he types on his phone, decided to address the tension in the room by whispering in Hyland's ear, “Sarah, I apologize for his reaction. I think it’s just the heat of the moment.”
Hyland responded to Dionicio, “Thank you,” before adding, “Boys will be boys, right?”
Later in the episode, Starks was also dumped from the show after the public vote. I have no idea what most of those words mean, but let's just hope for television's sake that all the awkwardness is behind us. One thing is certain — things are a lot less warm and fuzzy for Sarah Hyland in the Love Island USA villa than they were on Modern Family.
