A group of sexy, young men and women
from across South Africa are entering quarantine this week and are getting
tested for possible sexually-transmitted diseases before they will compete in
Love Island South Africa that will start on 28 February on M-Net as a new Cape
Town reality TV show without Covid but with condoms.
Around a dozen Islanders as they will
become known – plus extras, and some later replacements – have been entering
mandatory quarantine in Cape Town since Sunday. Host Leandie du Randt will
likely enter quarantine today.
They already selected possible Islanders
are now being isolated at a secret location, tested for Covid-19 and possible
symptoms, and will have to complete a 2-week waiting period.
Then they will all enter the Love
Island SA luxury villa that will debut with a special 90-minute premiere on
Sunday 28 February on M-Net (DStv 101) at 20:00. This will be followed by daily
episodes until sometime in April as the reality TV cameras capture their months
of sun, fun, games – and possibly sex.
Love Island SA, produced by Rapid Blue
that is also responsible for The Bachelor SA and the current The Bachelorette
SA on M-Net, is the latest South African TV series that has had to make some
expensive budget adjustments because of Covid-19 to create a coronavirus-free
production bubble.
With the Covid-19 pandemic showing no
signs of dissipating but with the proverbial "show that must go on"
in Hollywood and also in South Africa, M-Net has emerged as the de facto
leader across Africa's TV industry to create and produce Covid-19-free reality
television production bubbles from Nigeria to South Africa.
A growing number of M-Net-produced
reality series have so far isolated contestants – and to various degrees the
crew – in Covid-19 protective production bubbles.
This month's debut of Love Island SA
follows after the fifth season of Big Brother Naija: Lockdown, the 16th season
of Idols, the second season of Maak My Famous and Kwarantyn on kykNET that all
isolated contestants in homes in 2020, followed by the 8th season of Survivor
SA that will broadcast from 3 June, the first season of The Bachelorette and
the 13th season of Boer Soek 'n Vrou that are both currently on air, as well as
the upcoming new kykNET dating show Op My Eish! that also filmed in the Western
Cape.
Inside the bubble
TVwithThinus has reliably learnt that the
debut group of Love Island SA Islanders are all entering into quarantine
at the same time this week.
However, since the show requires a
steady stream of enticing contestants who will try to break competing couples
up to create new couplings, new Islanders will keep entering quarantine on a
staggered basis to ensure that there is a revolving new group of casting
options available depending on the needs of the show and the Islanders who
remain in the villa.
Quarantine is taking place in
accommodation close to the shoot location where Love Island SA producers have
control and oversight of the process.
M-Net has not revealed the location of
the luxury villa, or how many Islanders will initially enter the show where
they will couple up and compete in various sexy and often-hilarious challenges.
As per the Love Island format, around
10 to 12 Islanders traditionally start the show but viewers and the media will
have to watch the series unfold to see how many additional Islanders make an
appearance.
In terms of the Love Island
SA crew going into quarantine, this debut season of the localised format
adaptation has been structured differently to Survivor South Africa and The
Bachelorette South Africa.
TVwithThinus has been told that crew
members who are in direct contact with the cast will be quarantined and they
will be isolated together throughout the filming process.
This small crew is
made up of roleplayers such as the Love Island SA housemother, the medical team
on standby, as well as the interview team who capture the individual Islander
thoughts and gossip during TV diary sessions.
Crew that operate at arm’s length
– for instance, those in the control rooms, art department, production and
editors – will not be be quarantining as they do not pose a direct threat to
the Islanders protective bubble.
The Love Island SA crew will
operate in silos, depending on various departments or the structure of the work
environment to reduce the risk of Covid-19 in the workspace.
Tested for Covid and STDs, and yes,
there are condoms
The potential Islanders are all getting
tested for Covid-19 and TVwithThinus has been told that these tests are being run
at the start of the quarantine phase so that the production can be assured that
no-one is possibly asymptomatic.
Thereafter there is no reason to run
Covid-19 tests again since outsiders now inside the bubble would not have been
exposed.
However, the show will run tests again if there is any alarm, concern,
or the slightest reason to do so as a precautionary measure. Two medics
who live in the bubble with the Islanders are being tasked with screening
the contestants daily and will be looking after their welfare.
The Islanders are however not just
getting checked for Covid – sexually-transmitted disease (STD) checks are also
done before the final selection of the Islanders.
Love Island SA is also providing
condoms – male and female – in the villa for both contraceptive and
prophylactic purposes.
Still eligible to enter
If the contestants are secluded
together from this week, do they know of each other beforehand like they did
before the fifth season of Big Brother Naija started?
"The Islanders do not know or meet
one another beforehand," says M-Net. "During the profile camera
shoots and the prep prior to quarantine they are strictly chaperoned so that
should they find themselves in the same environment, that they do not
interact."
Love Island SA already received over 2
200 entries but interestingly, applications have not closed.
The final
selection of the opening cast of Love Island SA Islanders was done in January,
however the application page remains open. Rapid Blue's casting team
is "constantly on the hunt and will even be on the lookout while the series
airs".
This means that people can still apply
– and indeed even apply after the show has started and people have seen it –
meaning that it's possible that new Islanders could be added to the mix from
people who only discovered it once it is shown on TV.
Strict no-no's
So what could get Islanders booted from
the show besides ending up no longer being part of a competing
couple?
What is unacceptable behaviour that could see contestants removed
from Love Island SA and are they specifically told beforehand about language not
to use, non-consensual touching, non-consensual sex and physical violence?
TVwithThinus asked M-Net about this with
the TV channel that says "prior to selection all shortlisted Islanders
have a session with the production's psychologist who, along with doing an
assessment for productions purposes, also chats to the potential Islanders
about the process and what they are embarking on".
"Prior to their entry to the villa
all Islanders will have a follow-up session with the same psychologist to
ensure that they are comfortable moving ahead with the show."
"In addition, a team made up of
Rapid Blue producers and the M-Net team will talk with the Islander before the
show, talking through what would be acceptable behaviour both generally, for
the show, and for their personal life," M-Net says.
