Yes, “Love Island” Winners Always Split the Prize Fund
Throughout the entire 'Love Island' franchise — both U.S. and U.K. — none of the contestants have decided to steal the prize fund for themselves rather than splitting it
Ben Symons/Peacock
Ariana Madix during Love Island USAAfter six weeks of drama and romance at the Love Island villa in Fiji, couple Serena Page and Kordell Beckham have been voted as the winners of Love Island USA season 6. While Serena and Kordell decided to split the $100,000 cash prize after she picked the empty envelope, have any of the other Love Island winners decided to keep the prize fund just for themselves?
Kordell and Serena were not trendsetters — in fact, none of the past winners on Love Island USA or any of the other international versions of the franchise have opted not to split the money.
Throughout a season of the Love Island franchise, contestants arrive at the villa meet the other islanders and (hopefully) fall in love. Contestants must be coupled up at the end of each week — whether in a relationship or merely through friendship — in order to avoid being eliminated.
Ben Symons/Peacock
Love Island USA season six finaleIn addition to romance, contestants also face plenty of drama and heartbreak in their relationships, especially as new bombshells enter the villa and threaten existing relationships.
At the end of each season of Love Island USA, the winning couple are selected through an audience voting process. The selected winners are then given one envelope each — one empty and the other containing the prize money.
The contestant that ends up with the prize fund envelope can decide to keep the money for themselves or split it with their partner.
While no USA contestants have taken the keep option, the choice has been completely eliminated for UK. In the tenth season of Love Island UK in 2023, producers took out the split-or-steal envelope moment all together — a decision that shocked fans at the time.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
A source from Love Island UK told The Sun in August 2022 that "when the couple wins they will automatically share the prize money."
“This has been a series with a number of format changes, including the viewers’ choice in the first recoupling, just to keep the show feeling fresh,” the source added at the time.
However, in February, the Sun initially reported that the split-or-steal question would be returning to the first Love Island All Stars season, but the winners were not asked at the end.
While the drama from Love Island USA has come to an end, host Ariana Madix announced the reunion special will air on Peacock on Aug. 19 at 9 p.m. EST. Viewers will get the opportunity to see their favorite Islanders reunite to revisit everything that took place this past summer.
Love Island USA is now streaming on Peacock.
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.