Islanders
Does ‘Love Island USA’ Really Not Tell the Contestants the Time?
Aside from the occasional date outside the villa, Love Island USA fans know that the Islanders are completely isolated from the outside world during filming. As it turns out, they might be even more untethered from reality than we thought.
In a now viral X post, a user claims that producers avoid telling the contestants what time it actually is. Instead, curious Islanders are told that it’s “island time.” The information reportedly came from Season 7 dumpee Austin Shepard. Now, we’re not sure exactly when or where Austin said that — it could’ve been during a live TikTok video — but our interest was piqued. We had to find out if it was really true.
austin said when they would ask what time is it the staffs would tell them its “island time”.. i would be flipping tables #loveislandusa pic.twitter.com/xrAjwZAs73
— tweeter (@coinmaster4400) July 8, 2025
Some viewers were quick to point out that the Islanders are given phones, so wouldn’t that solve the clock problem? Apparently not. Deb Chubb, a finalist on Season 4 of Love Island USA, has spoken on the topic in a few social media posts. “You literally can only take pictures on receive messages, and you can look at the pictures,” she said. “It’s a real phone. It’s just like jail broken, so it just doesn’t do things.”
Multiple fans say that in another video, Chubb elaborated more on the matter of if the phones display the time or not. Apparently, the phones would all show different times, which led to Chubb trying to get a glimpse of the crew’s phones to get the real time.
“They set all clocks at different time so no one knows what time it actually is,” an X user added. “They do this because they often film until 3-4 am and wake up around noon. I remember one ex-islander from UK said recouplings take HOURS because they do their speeches multiple times.”
That intel appears to be at least somewhat legit because another Season 4 cast member, Phoebe Siegel, recalled something similar on TikTok. She said the phones would show a “fake” date and time, adding that it would make contestants “go a little crazy.”
Love Island USA appears to have taken notes from Love Island UK. Season 7’s Chloe Burrows confirmed that she never knew the time during her run on the show, according to a 2021 YouTube video. “I didn’t know whether I was coming or going,” she said. Burrows would use the sun to get an idea of how far along the day was.
Fellow Love Island UK alum Chris Williamson told BBC, “The only thing I can think is that it allows the show to dictate people’s sleep and wake cycles more easily. Also, if something happens at 6pm each day – but you don’t know when that is — it means the show can schedule stuff in more easily.”
What do you think of this villa rule? Is it a bit too extreme and disorienting? Do the Islanders’ crashouts make a little more sense? Weigh in in the comments below!
Love Island USA, Season 7, Every Night Except Wednesdays, 9/8c, Peacock
