Love Island UK season 9 is now available in the US via Hulu, but American fans wish they weren’t so behind on the episodes. The season premiered in the UK on January 16th and introduced 10 new islanders to a South African villa. This season is the first time the series has aired in the winter since 2020. Former host Laura Whitmore has departed the show, and Maya Jama has taken over. Luckily, Iain Stirling, who’s been narrating the series since season 1, has returned, putting his witty sense of humor to work. American fans waited impatiently, but as of January 30th, the season is finally streaming on Hulu.
Unfortunately, Love Island UK only airs one episode a day on Hulu, and American fans are angry that they are so behind on the season while UK fans are watching in real time.
Twitter user @NerishaPenrose expressed her frustration, writing, “Hulu needs to work out a better contract with Love Island bc there’s no reason we (US) have to start watching the season two weeks in.” Another fan on Twitter, @nsaraix, expressed the same dissatisfaction adding, “I’m tired of waiting two weeks to stream after the uk airs it.” Hulu responded to Nerisha’s tweet explaining that the current delayed schedule is due to streaming rights, but they will share her feedback with the team.
So far, American Love Island UK fans have met the five day 1 female islanders (Tanyel Revan, Tanya Manhenga, Olivia Hawkins, Lana Jenkins, and Anna-May Robey) and the five day 1 male islanders (Will Young, Shaq Muhammad, Ron Hall, Kai Fagan, and Haris Namani.) At the end of the episode, Maya introduced the islanders to Tom Clare, the first bombshell of the season. Fans already knew Tom from the Love Island UK Instagram page, where they voted for him to be the first bombshell to enter the villa. Ellie Spence was the other option, and she eventually enters the villa on day 10, though American fans have to wait a while to meet her.
No one knows what goes on behind the scenes or why Hulu is only able to deliver Love Island to American fans two weeks after it premieres in the UK. However, fans still have a right to be annoyed. It’s extremely difficult to avoid spoilers when other people online have been talking about the show for weeks, and the Love Island UK Instagram page has been posting along with the episodes. Especially since the show airs daily, there’s so much for American fans to catch up on. Had Hulu released all the current episodes two weeks after the premiere, fans would be less upset because they’d have a chance to catch up.
Unfortunately, the current way Hulu releases episodes makes it impossible for Americans to get on track with the series. While it may be too late for Hulu to do anything now, hopefully, by Love Island UK season 10, they’ll have a better contract. Americans should be able to watch along with UK fans, and if not, then when Hulu releases the Love Island UK season two weeks later, every episode that has already aired in the UK should be available for American fans all at once. Fans are typically pretty good at getting what they want from TV shows if enough of them speak out, so hopefully, Hulu and Love Island UK can come to a conclusion that makes American fans happy.
Love Island UK airs daily on ITV2 and ITVX and streams on Hulu in the US.
Sources: @NerishaPenrose/Twitter, @nsaraix/Twitter
