Love Island UK is so much more fun than the Dutch version and here's why

It is almost a standard fact that Dutch versions never measure up to the foreign ones. I readily admit there is an exception, and that is of course Ex On The Beach. But yeah, to distinguish yourself from the rest by urinating in someone’s suitcase in the penultimate episode… I love trashy TV, but this really went a bit too far for me.

Earlier, I had already established that Temptation Island USA is way more fun than our Dutch edition. Okay, we were treated to the most boring season that has ever been on TV, but still: the USA honestly beats all our seasons. There, people really come to test (or rather ruin) their relationship, instead of catching up on their sleep (hey Roger). Except for the one with Donny Roelvink but that’s because he’s my celebrity crush, so that’s not really a valid reason.

And also with Love Island we unfortunately have to watch from the sidelines again. I personally found ‘our’ Love Island very enjoyable — it was my guilty pleasure of the moment — so you can imagine how fun the UK version is. The first four (yes, you read that right: we can watch four seasons back) seasons are on Videoland and the very latest one comes out on July 29. When the sparrows fall from the roof due to the heat here, I’ll be sitting on the couch in my house aka sauna watching Love Island UK. No shame. By the way, that’s not the only season we can expect on Videoland; two new seasons have been promised. So buckle up, this is why you want to watch Love Island UK and leave the Dutch version behind.

1. They have a Casa Amor in Love Island UK. A what? you might think, if you’ve only seen our version. Yes, it wasn’t there. Well, let me explain what this love house is. The men are kicked out of the villa for a few days, to another place. Where they are then — surprise — accompanied by a bunch of other ladies. Meanwhile, the ladies stay in the villa and they also get — OMG surprise — visits from new single men. This way, the couples can test whether their feelings for their Love Island partner are genuine and strong enough. I dare to bet big money that Chey would have already caved at the first male wannabe influencer. So that would have been a plus point, that she fell through the cracks just a bit earlier. Many Dutch fans missed this Maison de l’Amour, so there’s a good chance this will be applied in the second season (because yes, that’s coming). Fingers crossed.

2. The rules are less strict. Holy sh… Have you ever read the rules that the Dutch and Belgian participants had to follow? I’ll name a few: go to bed at 00:00, get up at 9:00, no sex on camera (okay, I get that), no smoking on camera (somewhat understandable), but the cherry on top: a maximum of two drinks per day. Two. TWO! Now, I’m really not that much of an alcoholic (though that might come across differently now), but hello? Six weeks in a beautiful villa, with only beautiful people, even loving couples, you want to toast to that, right? Besides that, you also want to have a real party in the villa and not go back to the spa red after your second cava? In Love Island UK, one bottle after another is simply opened. A bit more my style, and…

3. It’s more juicy TV. Okay, that’s obviously a bit (a lot) related to my previous argument, but more drinks = more exciting TV. Drunken drama, drunken make-out sessions, drunken bad decisions… In other words: why we watch these TV shows. As much as I enjoyed Love Island, a Lotte who constantly finds everything incredibly intense with her ‘oh dear’ and all the Islanders who are endlessly annoyed by Chey but keep this sober (you would handle this differently if drunk) to themselves, Jarne who is already found rough but I would have loved to see him at his best with his jokes when he had one drink too many, and I could go on like this for a while… Matthy would probably have been incomprehensibly speaking Brabantian with a double tongue, but you can see from his face that he likes a beer (or eight). Melany will probably start talking at an even slower pace after a drink, I guess, so wise decision that she stays alcohol-free. But still. Missed opportunity RTL, missed opportunity.

Good preparation for the second season of Love Island NL. But yeah, I already predict that you won’t want anything else after that UK version. And I get it, guys.