SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers from “Temptation Island” Season 9, now streaming on Netflix.
With the newest season of “Temptation Island” out now, it’s impossible not to have questions. The reality series, which first debuted on Fox in 2001, moved to USA years later and now streams on Netflix, dropped all 10 episodes on March 12. The series follows four couples who face the ultimate temptation — they each separated, moved into villas with a bunch of single people, and wondered from afar whether their significant other was staying faithful. Then, in the end — and after seeing video clips of what their partner had been up to with the singles during weekly bonfires — they decided whether to leave the island together, leave single or leave with someone new.
Here’s a quick rundown of who chose what during the final bonfire:
Ashley and Grant — One of the more hostile bonfires (to start) was between Ashley and Grant; after he said he forgave her for belittling him and forgave himself for everything he did — ie., having sex with another woman in the shower — Ashley told him she was relieved their relationship was over. Grant chose to leave alone, and started crying when Ashley decided to leave with a new connection, Danny. (Ashley and Grant did share an emotional hug afterward, which is a healthy step!)
Shanté and Brion — It seemed like the wildest decisions of the season was when Brion chose to not only have a threesome with two of the singles in his house, but then to say in an interview he didn’t regret it and thought Shanté would understand. But then it got wilder; after he apologized, Shanté decided to leave the island with him at the end of the season.
Brion Whitley and Shanté Glover
COURTESY OF NETFLIX
Tayler and Tyler — Their final bonfire began very emotionally, with him asking to hug her and her saying no. It was intense throughout, but in the end, she decided to leave alone. He then chose to leave with another woman he found a connection with, Kay.
Alexa and Lino — This couple was the least dramatic of the season, with both staying faithful, staying in love and solidifying that they wanted to be together. In the end, he proposed, and she said yes.
Below, executive producers David Goldberg and David Friedman answer all our burning questions. Goldberg is the CEO of Banijay Studios North America, which acquired the series in 2019, while Friedman joined as showrunner for the Netflix run. The series was filmed in May, and they have yet to film a reunion.
Here, they detail why some bathroom behavior was captured on camera and others weren’t, and where the singles slept when they weren’t sneaking into the others’ rooms, to how host Mark L. Walberg is simply the best.
Let’s start with casting. What can you say about that process?
David Friedman: The couples drive this show for sure. That was our focus. We hired a casting company, and they brought us tons of couples and options. Finding single people who want to be on a dating show is not that hard. This obviously has its challenges, and it’s a different type of dating show, because you’re willingly going into it knowing that the people that you’re going to meet and or have a connection with are in a relationship.
David Goldberg: We’re always keeping an open mind to the couples, because they’re so important. We’re often willing to slot somebody in at the last moment if we find they’re really going to be terrific, or perhaps better than the people we already have. It’s really about the couples and the problems they’re having in the real world. A lot of people look at “Temptation Island” and say it’s a show that seeks to break up relationships. We look at it differently, and see a show that tests relationships. Couples don’t come on “Temptation Island” because everything is great. They come on because there’s a problem and they want to know if it’s time to you-know-what or get off the pot. It’s not that much different than couples in real life saying, “I think we need to take a break.”
I’m glad you brought that up. I watch a lot of dating shows, some with the goal for a couple to get married or stay married or get engaged… that’s not this.
Goldberg: Right, we want whatever is to happen, to happen. In many cases, people stay together for the wrong reasons and continue to stay in relationships. Look at the divorce rate in this country, look how many people we know that shouldn’t be together. So this is a focused, intense and public way of putting your relationship to the test. We want what is best for them. We had a proposal. I don’t think anything makes us happier than that, but also, we’re not making that judgment.
Friedman: On a day to day basis, I’m talking to the cast, and I think my main focus with the cast is to say, “Just commit to the journey.” And something Mark Walberg drives home better than any host I’ve ever produced is that we don’t know what’s right for you. You don’t know what’s right for you. That’s why you’re here. What we do know is you have to trust this journey, and you have to give in to the journey. There were many times when I would get a phone call from one of my producers saying, “Hey, so and so wants to talk to you.” I would go sit with them, and they would say to me, “I don’t know that I can continue on. I don’t know if I can deal with this like.” I would say to them, “There’s a reason why you came. You didn’t come to break up, you didn’t come to stay together. You came to figure that out. And so you have to stay true to that commitment.” In the end, only they decide what’s right — it doesn’t matter what I think, doesn’t matter what the producers around them think. When Brion and Shanté got back together, sure, everyone in the truck in the control room was shouting at the screen, but it’s not our decision.
Logistically, how long are the bonfires and how often are they?
Friedman: There’s not a set schedule of what night they are. It was a 17 or 18-day shoot. It was 17 days of production, about three and a half weeks of calendar time because there were off days in there for crew and for cast to decompress. Every few days we would have a bonfire. Sometimes they were expected, and sometimes they were unexpected, which is purposeful. Typically it was every few days.
How far away are the bonfires from the house?
Friedman: One of the houses was closer, just because of the locations they were able to secure. And one of them was further.
Goldberg: There’s a Montoya clip that everybody has seen [from “Temptation Island” Spain]. In that situation, he seemed to know where he was going. When we do it, they don’t. They couldn’t have run to the other villa. It would have been a marathon. And they have no idea where they are!
Friedman: Ashley said to me at one point — whenever the bonfire was when she sees what Grant had been up to, she said to me before it — “I don’t want to see it, I don’t want to go. I’m going to run.” I said, “Where are you going to run?” “I’m going to jump in the water.” I’m like, “OK, and then what? We’re going to have to help you out of the water!”
Natalie Cruz and Grant Larson
COURTESY OF NETFLIX
Where do the singles sleep when they’re not sneaking into the others’ rooms?
Friedman: The women slept in a pretty large room, on bunk beds, except on the occasion when Kay found herself in Tyler’s room and other such sort of visits that you saw. In the women’s house, they actually slept in a guest house that was 60 feet away from the main house. But they’re all living together, and it’s important that the couples have the choice to invite someone to stay, but also aren’t forced upon that.
All right, I need to talk about Brion’s bathroom scene versus Grant’s. Why did we see Grant’s bathroom hookup but not Brion’s?
Friedman: Not all rooms had the same camera components. Grant’s bathroom had a camera in it. He knew the camera was there. It’s not a security camera. He knew exactly where it was, and so did Natalie. That is not your question, but I think it is important. They knew it was there. He talked about putting a towel over it, which he could have done, we can’t stop him. He didn’t. With Brion, there was not a camera in that bathroom. If there had been a camera in the bathroom, I would have shown similar to what I showed [with Grant]. Now, you think you saw everything, but that Grant scene — if we were in Spain, you would have seen more.
Goldberg: There’s a lot on the cutting room floor.
You’ve worked on this format multiple times, but this is the first time at Netflix. Were you able to show more? Were there things that you couldn’t show before on USA?
Goldberg: I think there may have been. I don’t think it’s dramatic. There was perhaps more leniency.
Friedman: There is stuff that you can show on Netflix that you can’t show on TV. We weren’t asked to blur certain things in G-strings and things like that.
Goldberg: But we also didn’t want to make it a porn show. I don’t think that makes the show better.
Friedman: And to be clear, the reason why the bathroom scene wasn’t shown in its entirety was not Netflix. They don’t censor the show. That was David and I saying, as producers, you know what’s happening in the shower. We’re also trying to be respectful. We don’t want people to feel our goal is to exploit physical connections that happen on the show. You knew what happened. And you knew what happened wth Brion and you didn’t have to see it.
Obviously, they can see the cameras. They also know they’re on a TV show. They’re very aware that this is being filmed. But there is a scene of Brion standing in his doorway, looking around. Is that him looking for cameras?
Friedman: In that moment, I think he was sizing up the cameras. I do. I didn’t get confirmation of that. I never asked him. It was only until the edit where I saw that, him standing there in his towel. The only thing in the room is cameras — no producers. He’s not looking at any bodies, no camera operators.
Mark L. Walberg
COURTESY OF NETFLIX
Can you talk about the process of deciding which clips to show at the bonfire?
Friedman: It’s a constant process. Our producers pitch me moment to moment via WhatsApp. The decision process for me was what I thought would best lend itself to the journey that I think they need to go on. For example, sometimes showing someone a clip of a dance or a twerk, sometimes someone’s not going to react to that. What the men reacted to were the things that the women were saying about them.
Do you discuss them with Mark ahead of time?
Friedman: Mark doesn’t know. He doesn’t want me to tell him, so he’s watching in real time.
Goldberg: Mark isn’t a licensed psychotherapist, but, he’s been associated with the show for so long, and he’s probably qualified to be one.
Friedman: What he does is remarkable. He has no official training in psychotherapy. What he does in that moment is amazing, because he is looking at a person in their eyes having just seen a shower scene or whatever, and he asks, “Tell me how you’re feeling.” And he’s got to figure out how to deal with [the answer].
Goldberg: And sometimes their reactions aren’t genuine, in which case he’ll say, “OK. Now tell me how you really feel.”
Friedman: Emily, were you surprised by any of the outcomes?
Very. It’s safe to say that Shanté and Brion deciding to leave together was absolutely shocking.
Friedman: And they’re still together!
This interview has been edited and condensed.
