Pop Culture

16 Shows Like Love Island

By Influencer | January 22, 2025

One of the most powerful forces in pop culture is undeniably reality TV (aside from Taylor Swift, obvi). And, of all the reality TV out there, dating shows have to be some of our favorites. We loovvveee the romance, the scandals, and the DRAMA of competitive dating shows like Love Island USA … And, so does the rest of the world. The Love Island franchise realllyyy knows what they’re doing. With dozens of spin-off shows in over 20 countries, they know how to keep us HOOKED.

Love Island shaped modern dating shows, for real. We’ve come a long way from 1965’s “The Dating Game.” Viewers don’t want a live studio audience and new contestants every episode—they want exotic locations, season-long sagas, and super messy relationships. However, there are only a few seasons of Love Island USA, so what are you supposed to do after that???

Don’t stress, we’re sharing our list of the best shows to watch while waiting for the next season of Love Island. Here are our fave reality series to binge like Love Island:

16 Shows Like Love Island

Love Island Games

We had to start off with the most obvious Love Island comparison—what better to watch than Love Island Games? This spinoff features various contestants from allll of the other seasons (and series). We’re talkin’ Courtney Boerner from Love Island USA Season 4, Georgia Steel from Love Island UK Season 4, Lisa Celander from Love Island Sweden Season 3—the list just goes on and on.

This show still features that “shot at love” dynamic, just with some fun challenges that you’ve never seen before. Oh, and there may be some dramatic appearances and twists. We aren’t giving ANYTHING away, you’ll have to find out for yourself!

Love is Blind

Another dating show we can’t get enough of is Love is Blind. In this series, contestants start in pods where they date only through audio calls. The couples don’t meet until they’re engaged—that’s right!!! They can’t see each other until there’s a marriage proposal!
Once there are a few engaged couples, they all go to a resort together where they meet their partners and the other contestants. As you can imagine, romance, sex, and betrayal ensue here. The surviving couples then move to the final stage of the competition by moving into an apartment together in the same city to see if their blind love is for real. You can hear more about this show on these episodes of Not Skinny, Not Fat called, “Is Love Really Blind?” and, “Love Is Blind: Taylor Krause & Hannah Jiles.“

Married at First Sight

What’s America’s obsession with people finding love without meeting??? Don’t know, don’t care, because millions of us love the drama! We watch Love is Blind and Married at First Sight ready for the tearful break-ups and questionable long-term romance. It just sucks us in, right?!?

In this series, couples are paired based on compatibility by relationship experts. They marry in the first episode, are given a quick honeymoon, and then are placed in their home together! Yeah, this happens CRAZY fast. For the rest of the season, you see how their relationship unfolds as a newlywed couple that literally just met. In the final episode, they must decide if they want to stay married or divorce. It’s SO FUN to watch.

Too Hot to Handle

Ever seen those dating shows where the whole series is meaningless flings with noncommittal contestants? Though we love those, Too Hot to Handle is the PERFECT twist on this reality TV trope. A group of singles who are known for engaging in everything BUT long-term relationships are all thrown in a house together and told they can’t kiss, have sex, or participate in any self-gratification. But here’s the thing… if any of those things do happen, it doesn’t just cost them—it costs everyone else in the house, too.

The hope is that this sexual prohibition allows them to curate lasting relationships and true emotional connections. Think it works??? If you’re not sold on the show, listen to this episode of Not Skinny, But Not Fat about the show! And for some real deal info on intimacy from Too Hot To Handle’s intimacy coach, tune into this episode from We Met At Acme.

The Circle

Okay, The Circle isn’t actually a dating show, it’s a popularity contest—but, if you like dating competition shows, you’ll LOVE The Circle. And hey, there’s some flirty tension sprinkled throughout the show! All of the players live in the same complex but in separate rooms blocked off from the outside world. The only communication they have is through texts and a special social media app. The contestants converse and hang out on the phone until rating day, where they rank the players from best to worst.

The catch??? The contestants can portray themselves however they want! Catfishing is a strategy often used in the game; whoever is ranked worst is “blocked” and has to go home, and whoever is ranked the best becomes “influencers” with special privileges. Whoever is ranked the best by the end of the game wins a big cash prize. It has drama that you won’t wanna miss out on.

Are You the One?

This reality dating show is another must-see. With a group of singles in one house, the contestants of Are You The One? work with a matchmaking algorithm to discover who their perfect partner is. Sooo technically, their matches are already pre-determined, they just have to figure out who their match is. At the end of the game, there’s a shared cash prize given to all the contests. But the catch? Allll of the matches have to be correct.

With a whirlwind of drama, romance, and strategy, you’ll have to watch this show for yourself to see just how captivating it truly is. It’s a really unique format, and, as of recently, it includes LGBTQ+ contestants, which both make the series more interesting and more inclusive!

The Bachelor

The Bachelor is one of the most ICONIC dating shows in history. Even if you don’t watch The Bachelor, you’ve heard of it. It starts off with a single man who meet a group of women that are all aiming to get one thing: that final rose.

Through dates and plenty of other one-on-ones, the bachelor gets to narrow down which woman he can see the most potential in. The ultimate goal? To find love and potentially propose by the end of the season, obvi! For some fun behind the scenes stories, check out this episode and this episode of The Squeeze.

Bachelor in Paradise

Speaking of The Bachelor, if you are a fan, you’ll be familiar with this elimination-style dating game show. Like Love Island, though, this spin-off of The Bachelor takes place in an exotic location! The concept is simple:

There are a few men and a lot of women. They all hang out in paradise and at the end of each episode, they have a “Rose Ceremony” where the men select the women they want to get to know more. The last woman standing wins the love and partnership of the male contestants! We LOVE this version of the series just as much as the originals.

Dating Around

There aren’t a ton of episodes of Dating Around to watch, but it’s definitely worth a weekend binge. The contestants go on blind dates with people of all genders, races, and sexual orientations, despite the player’s personal preferences. The forced experimentation is really fun and gives the show a totally one-of-a-kind twist.

FBoy Island

Seeing a running theme with the “island” thing??? Yeah, there is something about tropical settings that make the perfect reality dating show location. Maybe because people are just primed for relaxation and romance? Or, maybe it breeds really terrible decision-making for our viewing pleasure. Whatever it is, FBoy Island feeds all of our entertainment needs.

The show hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser starts with 3 women and 24 men—the men are either f*ckboys or nice guys. Basically, some of the men are looking for hook-ups and plan to take 100% of the show’s cash prize and some are looking for long-term relationships and want to split the cash prize with their partner. The thing is, the women don’t know who’s who! They eliminate 3 men each week and only then do they find out if they kicked a f*uckboy or a nice guy off the island. Super binge-worthy.

Lovers and Liars

Another dating show hosted by the beloved Nikki Glaser, Lovers and Liars is a spinoff of Fboy Island. Actually, it kinda is Fboy Island, but girls take the lead, this time.

It starts off with 3 men and 24 women, and now the men have to figure out which women are there to find love, and which women are there to cash in that $100,000 prize. Of course, it takes place on a tropical island, but we didn’t need to tell you that.

Perfect Match

Ever watch one of these iconic dating shows and get hooked on a specific cast member? Like, what’s their dating life like now? Sure, we can check their socials, but what’s the fun in that??? Don’t worry, Perfect Match brings all of your fave players back together again.

Watch these singles from previous dating shows come together in a tropical villa (shocker, we know), to see which person they’re most compatible with. Here’s the twist, though: only one couple can win. Having to go through trials, dates with other couples, and a unique voting system, this dating show is full of on-the-edge-of-your-seat moments that we can’t get enough of.

Temptation Island

Here’s another island dating show! This one was originally aired in 2001 on USA Network, but it’s been recently rebooted on Netflix for some more fun and entertaining love-related drama. Couples agree to go on the show and be split up into “tempting” groups. The men live with a dozen models and the women live with a dozen attractive men. The object of the game is to avoid cheating despite the temptation! This one is juicy, sleazy, and full of toxic drama. We love it!!!

Dated and Related

At first glance, Dated and Related can sound a liittlleeee… questionable. But, it’s not what you think! This dating show features pairs of siblings that act as “wingmen” for each other in finding the perfect one.

Who knows you better than your sibling? NOBODY, according to this hit Netflix show. Each contestant is accompanied by their sibling who helps them navigate the dating world, all in hopes of gaining that cash prize at the end. Dating is awkward as it is, so having your sibling there to witness all of those private and intimate moments just adds a whole new meaning to “uncomfortable.” But yet, we can’t look away.

The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On

This show has us HOOOOKED. If you’ve ever wanted a dating show centered around real-life couples and their real-life problems, this is everything you could ever want and more. This show features a handful of different couples who all share one common problem: one partner wants to put a ring on it, and the other partner isn’t ready just yet.

You get to watch these couples “break up,” mingle with the other newfound singles, find a new partner, and see how a trial marriage would be with someone new for a week. Once that week is up, they return back to their OG partner to see if they’re ready for marriage yet. There’s 3 ways this could end: the original partners get engaged, they leave with other people, or, they leave single. It immediately sucks you in. Don’t miss out on The Ultimatum: Queer Love, either!

Vanderpump Rules

You’re right, this isn’t a dating competition show, but it’s all about relationships and classic reality TV drama. It’s a spin-off from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and focuses on Lisa Vanderpump, who is a successful restaurateur, designer, author, actress, and badass businesswoman. You see her interactions and relationships with her staff, friends, and family and ALL the chaos that comes with it. And, trust us, there’s a lot.

If you get totally obsessed with Vanderpump Rules, check out the best Bravo podcasts and listen to what the hosts of our Dear Media podcasts are saying about Vanderpump Rules in these binge-worthy episodes:

You’ve still got time to binge these shows before the next season of Love Island!

We hope all these shows across various streaming services keep you busy and feed your dating show addiction, because they fed ours! And, once you’ve finished all the episodes, why not try a podcast? We’ve got a whole roster of kickass stellar shows ready to be binged! For more recommendations, life advice, and pop culture nonsense, browse more posts like this on the Dear Media blog. You may just fall in love! (with our content, that is.)

If you still wanna binge some Love Island related content, check out these episodes to get your fix!