*Spoilers ahead!
Netflix released “Temptation Island” on March 12, 2025. It was an update to an earlier hit reality tv show from the 2000s. The new Temptation Island fits seamlessly within the universe of Netflix dating shows, many of which feature a beautiful island and emotionally challenged individuals.
“Temptation Island” has its fair share of all of this, but somehow, it manages to be Netflix’s most diabolical dating show to date. Like many other shows of the same vein, “Temptation Island” is trashy and it knows it. The guys are constantly shirtless, and the women are perpetually in bikinis. The point is, the show lacks substance, and that is only emphasized by the actions of these people after the show ended. Even despite this, “Temptation Island” managed to be a very enjoyable and entertaining ten episodes of television.
The Premise
Shows like “Too Hot to Handle,” “Perfect Match” and “Love is Blind” are Netflix’s most popular dating shows. They all have a few things in common, and that is that they are built to work towards a stronger relationship, sense of self, etc. “Temptation Island” offers a little bit of this “self-improvement,” but not without first destroying relationships that were previously built.
The show seems to encourage or nudge the contestants to seek other options, while already being in committed, long term relationships. The featured couples are all in vulnerable, and seemingly fragile, parts of their relationship. Adding “temptation” to an already unstable relationship is a recipe for disaster. But, temptation is the entire point of the show, and the couples knew what they were getting into.
The island is supposed to serve as a test to see if these couples are really serious about each other. Host Mark L. Walberg (No not that Mark Walberg) guides the couples through their journeys. Mark is the best part of the show, he tells the contestants what they need to hear rather than what they want to hear.
The Challenged Couples
When the show begins, you meet couples in various stages of their relationships. Alexa and Lino, Tyler and Taylor, Shante and Brion and Ashley and Grant all have separate challenges that they must face. At the beginning, the couples seem confident that they’ll make it through the island together, even when they are separated into their respective houses.
The guys got off to a hot start. Within the first day of the challenge, Grant and Tyler already cheated on their partners, and were about to break up with them. The only problem, the biggest part of the challenge was neither partner could contact one another, so they had to trust that no boundaries would be broken. The guys showed their true colors very quickly.
The Guys On the Island
Grant, Tyler, Brion and Lino. Where do we begin? These four men, despite Lino, may be the most emotionally stunted and childish group of individuals on a Netflix dating show. And that truly says a lot.
The ladies on the island have their low points as well. Some of their actions aren’t morally great, but it’s hard to criticize them because most of their actions are reactions stemming from what the guys did to them.
Grant: The Master of Never Doing Anything Wrong
Grant is 29 and had a daughter and divorce before starting his relationship with Ashley. This is not a bad thing as everyone has their own journey. The biggest problem about Grant, and there are many, is that he uses his daughter as proof that he can treat a woman right. Not only is there no correlation between the two things, but his actions tell a different story every time.
Grant and Ashely came to the island so that he could prove to her that he was loyal. Well, Grant broke that trust within the first day of the challenge with a girl named Natalie. Grant cheated on her after the show too.
Ashley was not pleased when she caught wind of this, but she wasn’t surprised either. She rightfully explored her own relationships with two of the single men in the woman’s house. Grant, fueled by his undevoted love for Ashley (not) was furious, heartbroken and jealous that Ashley could do something like this to him. Mind you, this is after he already cheated on her.
Tyler: Just get it Together Man
Tyler came to the island with Taylor, and claimed that their relationship was “over” before even being on the show. The two seemed very devoted to each other at the beginning, so something isn’t adding up there. Nevertheless, Tyler cheated on Taylor with a woman named Kay in the first hours of being separated as well.
To be fair to them, Tyler and Kay’s relationship on the show was maybe the most likeable, and it certainly felt the most genuine. The two got along very well and had some cute moments, but most of it was overshadowed by knowing how they came to be. However, it is one of the bright spots on the show.
Taylor’s main problems with Tyler was that he had been unemployed for almost a year. To that he claimed that he was modelling, which is not exactly stable. She also brought up the point that he jumped from relationship to relationship. Tyler was divorced less than a year before starting a relationship with Taylor. In the end, Tyler left Temptation Island with Kay. However, Kay later revealed on social media that Tyler ghosted her, and then started dating another woman. It makes one think, was Taylor right all along?
Brion: Wants What He Can’t Have
Remember when you were a child, and your parents said to not touch something? Of course, you would go and touch it right after. Remember that? That is Brion in a nutshell. To call the man childish and delusional would be underselling just how ridiculous he is throughout the show. Sure, he comes from a trauma filled childhood, but that excuse your actions?
He and Shante came to the island so that he could prove that he could have platonic friendships with women. I’m just gonna rip the band-aid off, Brion cheated on Shante. There is no surprise there, but props to him for waiting to be the third to do it and not the first. If you want to know how he cheated, you’re gonna have to watch the show yourself.
After this, Brion befriends a lady named Amiah. He confesses to her that he believes Shante will take him back, even after his scandalous actions. He has many childish rants about how the people in the house are weird. He even goes as far as to say that Shante will be grateful for his cheating because it made him realize that Shante was the only girl for him.
The Last Bonfire
At the end of the show the couples meet around a bonfire and discuss their plans with their partners. Only one of the original couples gets through the entire show together. For that, the fans are treated with a proposal! Alexa and Lino are the only couple that were not mentioned, and that’s because they were very unproblematic. Their relationship actually seemed “healthy,” at least compared to the others that were featured.
If you want to understand the full chaos and mayhem that is “Temptation Island,” the full season is streaming on Netflix. Go check it out.
Tell us your thoughts on “Temptation Island” @VALLEYmag on X and all other social media.
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