UNSW Love Island Review

Coinciding the event with the release of the new Love Island UK season, Arc hosted their own version. This was a night where a handful of UNSW’s singles competed to find love in front of an audience of their peers. Hosted at the roundhouse, entry was free for Arc members and included a free drink upon arrival (although the selection of drinks was limited). Honestly, this was one of the most entertaining Arc events in a while, however, this was for all the wrong reasons. Much like all forms of reality TV, it’s the cast and their chemistry (or lack thereof) that makes or breaks the show.

If you’re wondering how Arc managed to adapt eight weeks of time in a tropical villa into two hours in the roundhouse on a Saturday night, truthfully, there was very little resemblance to its namesake. Instead, it was more akin to the Bachelor franchise or The Dating Game from the 80s. This is obviously because calling it UNSW’s Bachelor/Bachelorette would have far less draw than associating it with the hit ongoing show; truly a genius marketing move on their part. 

Prior to the event, we struggled to find its location with no signage indicating where it was to be held. We attempted navigating through the empty venue halls, awkwardly stumbling into the concluding bystander training workshop (and before anyone says this is a ‘skill issue’ on our part, there were a dozen other students with us at the time, all struggling to find the location). Luckily we found a security guard who pointed us in the right direction. Although the event time was slated for 5:30-7:30, the show itself didn’t start until 6:20. We still got there nice and early, securing seats close to the front, our free drinks and free condoms. 

There were two rounds to the evening, one group of girls vying for a bachelor and one group of guys playing for a bachelorette. The bachelor and bachelorette were separated from the contestants by a wall. These competitors then answered a series of questions throughout their round. In the end, the bachelor and bachelorette picked their match based solely on the answers provided, meeting them face to face afterwards. 

I think it’s also important to note how disgusting some members of the audience were during the rounds, especially the girls' round. The entire row behind us spent the night catcalling all the women on stage and shouting suggestive remarks. I’m all for audience interaction but for an event held during Respect Week, you’d think people wouldn’t be so unapologetically disrespectful. There were multiple points during the night where I felt uncomfortable by how brazen the men behind us were in their objectification of the female contestants. These comments were not discreet and it is ultimately shocking considering the Respect Week setting that they were not spoken to or kicked out for their behaviour.

Round 1

The first round featured Bachelor Joel; a 20-year-old software engineering student with a passion for Go-karting. Fighting for his love was 27-year-old master's student Lanya, 22-year-old Yang and 19-year-old Julia.

Right off the bat, making a 27-year-old and a 19-year-old compete for a 20-year-old seems a little bit questionable. Regardless, the rounds proceeded with a series of questions surrounding interests, hobbies, red flags and date ideas.

A notable question was when the interviewer asked the girls what their worst possible first date would be. Yang said a date who didn’t respect their boundaries (harassment), Julia said when her date makes insensitive ‘jokes’ about her cultural background (xenophobia) and Lanya said when a man exhibits traits of narcissism. The bar is on the floor for these poor ladies. 

There was also a question surrounding the texting styles of the contestants in which a clear dichotomy between Lanya and Julia was created. Lanya considers herself hyper-independent and above the need for constant reassurance from her partner. Julia, quite the opposite, said that she needs constant texting and communication with her partners, preferably referring to her as “babygirl”. Obviously, this difference correlates with their age gap and further emphasises how strange it is to pit them against each other for the same bachelor.

For the concluding section of the round, the bachelor decided to ask the contestants whether his Android phone was a dealbreaker. All of the ladies said it wasn’t, with Lanya swooping in revealing the multiple android phones she owns. There was a surprising lack of elaboration on that detail, causing us to spend the entire intermission speculating the need for four separate phones.

Regardless, her android phones most likely sealed the deal in his eyes with Lanya securing the bachelor of this round. This means that the 27-year-old successfully secured a man 7 years younger than her in front of a crowd of cheering spectators. 

During the intermission, Lanya and Joel sat with each other, watching the second round of the event.

Round 2

The three competitors for the next round were Timothy, Arel and William. Despite calling for her name three times, the bachelorette did get up on stage, forcing the boys to hold their eyes shut for a prolonged period of time whilst the event runners scrambled to remedy the situation. After a discussion with the staff running the event, the bachelorette, Juno, finally joined the contestants on stage. It was unclear whether her delay was due to nerves, disinterest in the suitors, or some other factor. 

The first question asked the men to share their green flag. Timothy confidently said his green flag was his patience, setting the stage for the evening. When asked to list his green flags, Arel struggled to answer in a timely manner before deeming himself a good listener. This was only after the host joked his delayed response was indicative of a lack of green flags. William said his biggest green flag was how charming he was and his “rizz”. Both of these are extremely subjective and do not help demonstrate his ability to be a good partner. 

Throughout this entire round, it was extremelyunclear whether William was being serious in his responses. On one hand, his answers were often absurd such as his hobby of ‘boxing in the middle of the night’. Similarly, claiming he ‘has rizz’ and that his upper body is built like a triangle can be seen as intentionally obtuse. Despite this, he delivered all of his answers earnestly. If his stint on the show was a joke there was no punchline, instead coming across as someone who didn’t have the confidence to commit to the wild claims he was making. 

Another highlight of the night was that when the men were asked who their most recent text was sent to, all of them named a female friend. As much as I am of the camp that men and women can be purely platonic friends, there is something comedic about every single guy unveiling their most recent text, each more questionable than the last.  Regardless, I have to commend the men for their candour because it would have been very easy to lie in that situation.

The contestants were all asked their least favourite things about university with responses such as particular lecturers or being harassed by socialist alternative (a joke that didn’t get the laugh it deserved). The bachelorette’s answer to this, however, was far more shocking, deeming her least favourite part of university “the lack of cute guys”. As the audience erupted in cheers and giggles, the faces of the contestants froze, processing the implication of that statement to their chances at securing her hand. 

At this point, as a spectator, I was questioning whether it was possible for her to pick nobody. It had seemed as if none of the contestants had earned a place in her heart and any choice would be purely superficial and performative. 

Now it was finally Juno’s turn to ask questions to help whittle down the competition, asking questions mainly revolving around the different types of triangles. This included playing a game of ‘Kiss, Marry, Kill’ with scalene, equilateral and isosceles triangles as well as the men assigning themselves the triangle that best represented themselves. Arel deemed himself scalene because he’s underrated due to his looks, going on a monologue about being underappreciated. 

Juno asked if any of the contestants could sing, none of them volunteering. She did however, recall that one of Timothy’s hobbies was writing poetry. Timothy was asked to recite two lines from his poetry, which seemed to earn points in his favour. 

When asked for any final pleas to sway her decision, Arel said he didn’t mind if she chose somebody else, however, believed he was the best option. William remained silent.

Juno ended up picking Timothy, the other two rejected on stage. Although it would have been iconic if Juno walked off with none of them, it seems she thought through her decision, extracting information until the very last second. 

Conclusion

Ultimately, Arc’s love island was a great time and a wildly engaging show that kept me on the edge of my seat. I feel like all of it’s hiccups added more charm to the show itself; the unintentional plot twists driving the narrative. The only thing I want to stress is that this is not in the format of Love Island. As a long-time Reality TV enjoyer, it is important that you calibrate your expectations to a traditional Bachelor-style Q&A dating game. Still definitely worth securing a ticket to for a night of laughter and a free drink. The only truly disappointing downside was the inappropriate behaviour of certain audience members; catcalling women is unacceptable regardless of the event.