Love Island USA‘s season 8 finale was missing several key moments after the show appeared to go through some changes.
The show wrapped up its eight season on Sunday, July 12, as host Ariana Madix announced that Trinity Tatum and Bryce Alakai Dettloff got the most votes. Aniya Harvey and Carl Lee Schmidt came in second and Melanie Moreno and Sincere Rhea took third place while Kayda Bosse and Zach Georgiou were in fourth.
Viewers quickly noticed, however, that Trinity and Bryce were awarded the prize of $100,000 without going through the envelope ceremony.
Based on past seasons, the winning couple who received the highest number of votes from the public are given two envelopes: one for each partner. One envelope contains $100,000, while the other is empty. The partner with the $100,000 envelope chooses whether to share the money with their partner as a test of trust and commitment — or walk away with all of it as a way of choosing the prize over love.
Most of the winners chose to split their money but Trinity and Bryce weren’t given the option. There was also a missing moment with the “vows” that each couple from the final four usually would read to each other before finding out who gets crowned.
Peacock — and Ariana — didn’t clarify the shakeup yet. Over the years, winners have spoken about their approach when it came to the prize money. Season 5 winner Marco Donatelli admitted that he considered all his options before he split the amount with his now-fiancée, Hannah Wright.
“I wanted to take all 100 and double it, then give her 100. I knew there would be a tax on it. I said it about 10 times, and they cut it out every single time,” Marco claimed to the Cincinnati Enquirer in September 2023. “But no, I had to split it, but I really did want to take 100 and double it and then give her 100. So, we’re going to rock with just splitting the 50. We’ll double it from here.”
Marco pointed out that the prize is considered taxable income. By splitting the amount, the winners have to pay federal and state income taxes on the money individually, which gave him pause.
Kordell Beckham and Serena Page, who won season 6 of Love Island USA, also spoke about splitting their earnings.
“I’m saving it up and just going to navigate life normally,” Kordell told USA Insider in July 2024. “I’m saving, but I’m also investing into my career, you know, business opportunities to grow more and get, you know, tenfold for the modeling, endorsement sponsors, whatever happens, you know, those opportunities I’ll take them in.”
Serena had a similar outlook, telling Collider in July 2024, “I was living without it, so I’ll just pretend it’s not there and put it in my savings.”
Love Island USA is now streaming on Peacock.
