‘Love Island USA’ fans take over Fort Worth sports bar for watch party
The patio tables are filled with a captive audience on a Tuesday night at the Little Woodrow’s bar in Fort Worth’s West 7th district.
The 400-inch TV screen is playing and the crowd gasps — not for a sports game, but for two contestants getting intimate on an episode of ”Love Island USA.”
“It’s similar to a larger sporting event,” said Brandon Britain, Little Woodrow’s director of operations. “A bigger NBA game, the crowd is similar to that.”
The NBC reality TV show’s seventh season has been called “the pop culture obsession of the summer,” with fans flocking to watch parties across the country.
Little Woodrow’s locations in Texas have seen high turnout for the episodes, and Fort Worth is no exception. Fifty to 60 people, both men and women, weathered a flash storm on Tuesday to see which couple got the boot.
On Sunday, Britain expects another good crowd for the season finale. Little Woodrow’s is giving one member of its rewards program a Louis Vuitton purse for attending. Despite my love of designer purses, that will not include me.
IMDB describes “Love Island” as a show where, “single hopefuls looking for love complete tasks, couple off and get voted out week by week. Packed full of drama.”
Episode 32 of “Love Island USA,” which aired Tuesday, follows the generic reality-show formula.
Gratuitous shirtless scenes: check.
Hook ups: check.
Relationship drama: check.
Dramatic send off at end of the episode: check.
The contestants seem to compete in seemingly pointless challenges and then “Love Island USA” fans vote on who stays and who goes, never mind the outcome of the challenge.
This episode, the men went off to play three-on-three basketball and the women stayed back and played “never have I ever.” I do not know who won, but I do know that Pepe Garcia and Chris Seely claimed to be professional athletes despite not really standing out in the scenes shown from the pickup game.
The main conflict throughout the episode was Huda Mustafa and Chris Seeley’s relationship. The couple seemed open to talk to anyone but their partner about what bothered them until the end.
The episode ended with voters dumping Clarke Carraway and Taylor Williams from the island despite seeming like the most well-adjusted couple on the show.
The crowd at Little Woodrow’s seemed encouraged by it all; silently watching, occasionally cheering and even staying on the patio to watch during the sudden thunderstorm.
The “Love Island USA” season finale will stream on Peacock on Sunday, July 13, at 8 p.m.
