“This [expletive] is getting good,” one viewer said as he rubbed his hands together.
“Love Island USA,” the US version of the British reality TV show, has captured millions of viewers across the country in recent weeks. The show features ready-to-mingle singles called “Islanders” who gather at a gorgeous villa in Fiji to vie for love and the chance at $100,000. The couples participate in challenges, face the horror of recoupling (pairing up with a new person), and suffer the whims of public opinion as viewers vote for the couples they want to keep watching.
The hit program is drawing throngs of young people to watch parties at bars across Boston and beyond.
On Thursday night, hundreds attended watch parties in their best island-attire across Boston, laughing, cringing, yelling, and gasping as the contestants slid down poles and onto a soapy slide in a challenge turned obstacle course called “Viva Las Villa.”
During its final week of filming of the season, the show has managed something unusual, pulling people off their couches and out on the town in search of connection and community. For these fans, the watch parties are more than watching bikini-clad contestants make out in a jacuzzi, they’re an escape from the stress of everyday life.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Sathi Patel, 22, of Worcester, said at Scorpion Bar Boston in the Seaport, which also hosted a watch party Thursday. In a divisive political climate, “Love Island has unified the people in a way we desperately need,” she said.
Heather Diehl/For The Boston Globe
Watch parties have been held for other reality shows, including “The Bachelor,” “The Bachelorette,” “Survivor,” and “Vanderpump Rules.” From 2017 to 2019, season seven and eight of “Game of Thrones” had watch parties in Cambridge and across Boston.
But as “Love Island USA” moves toward its grand finale on Sunday, its popularity has reached new heights. It also features Everett native Bryan Arenales who has splashed into a popular relationship with self-identified “sensitive gangster,” Amaya Espinal, nicknamed “Amaya Papaya.”
Throughout June, clips from this season have been viewed more than 632 million times, a 232 percent increase from season 6, according to NBCUniversal.
In the second week of June, the show racked up 1.2 billion views, the second most-watched streaming show that week behind Netflix’s “Ginny & Georgia,” according to preliminary data obtained by Luminate, an entertainment data and analytics company.
“Hilarious, romantic, shocking, dramatic, sad,” Diana Byakuleka, 27, Quincy, said of the show at Tiki Rock. “It has all the feels.”
Around her, pink flamingos, bubble machines, and beach balls floated around the room. Danika Clarke, 27, of Brockton, who does the marketing for the bar, handed out neon pink, yellow, and blue leis for viewers.
“It’s a break from the real world,” Byakuleka said.
Across from her, Jennae Herbert, 27, of Weymouth, said, “we really connect with the characters, and it feels like we’re a part of their journey.”
Herbert, her sister, Tiara, 24, and Byakuleka spent the evening tilting their heads back in fits of laughter. In front of them were custom menus with drinks inspired by the contestants, such as an “Amaya Papaya” tequila drink and a “Chelley Belly” dry gin drink.
Byakuleka, who is Black, said she feels represented by the show.
“It’s really diverse,” Byakuleka said of the contestants. “I love seeing women that look like me love out loud.”
For some women, who make up most of the watch party crowds, it’s a chance to watch something other than sports at a bar.
“It’s the definition of girlhood,” said Cindy Nguyen, 27, of Boston. “This is your community.”
Conversations range from the “vibes” of contestants, how “cute” an outfit is, and the height of contestant Ace Green, whose claim of being 5 feet 10 inches has drawn skepticism.
Nia Hernandez, 27, of Salem, sat with her girlfriends at Tiki Rock in a white T-shirt with bright pink block letters reading “Dump Him.”
“It’s just finally something that the girlies get to do,” Hernandez said. “It’s nice to get to experience other people’s drama and not be involved in it.”
Nearby, Nawal Esawy, 22, who is living in Boston, sat with a group of four friends wearing leis and ordering the “Hurricane Huda” rum drink.
Esawy works from home the majority of the week, so she jumped at the chance to go out and meet people. In a world where “we’re all online,” she appreciates an “unserious” conversation about couples at a luxury villa.
“It‘s nice to go out and have these experiences,” Esawy said. “I love socializing.”
Down the road at Scorpion Bar, groups of friends crowded near TV screens. One moment, a viewer put his head in his hands. The next, his mouth dropped and he pointed at the screen in shock after one particularly awkward villa conversation.
“Yes, yes!” someone yells.
“He’s too good for her,” another person declares.
Nicole Smith, 34, of Boston, and her partner Kenley Midy, 33, were enjoying the party.
Smith could talk at length about her favorite contestant, Huda, and who should be kicked off the villa on Friday.
But her favorite part “is being here with my love,” she said, putting her hand on Midy’s leg. “We get to vibe, eat, and just experience ‘Love Island.’”
Jonathan Pozzi, general manager of the Scorpion Bar Boston, said “every single person at the bar has a common interest” at the watch parties.
“The entire room erupts with screams,” Pozzi said. “It’s even more energy than we’ve seen with a big sports game watch party.”
The bar started hosting the Thursday night watch parties on June 26.
Food and drink sales during the watch parties are “exponentially higher” than on an average night around 9 p.m., Pozzi said.
At Tiki Rock, Curtis McMillan, the bar’s manager, has hosted two Thursday watch parties and sold out both times.
“It’s infectious in the sense that when you have that many people who are so excited about what they’re doing,” McMillan said. “It just it makes it fun for everybody else.”
Both bars are hosting watch parties for the show’s finale on Sunday, with former contestant Andreina Santos slated to be at Scorpion Bar.
As viewers at Scorpion Bar screamed at the soapy obstacle course competition, Gabi Drumm, 24, of Boston, said it was a perfect night out.
“I would not go out if I was watching ‘Love Island,’ but now I can go out and watch ‘Love Island,’” Drumm said with a laugh.
Back at Tiki Rock, Brian Coppinger, 28, of West Roxbury, and his sister, Caitlin, sipped on their custom drinks, “Chelley Belly” and “Soul Ties Is Crazy.”
“Honestly, it’s extremely aggravating,” Brian said of the show. “A lot of these people, I feel like don’t exist in the real world.”
But that’s the reason he keeps watching.
“It‘s just so captivating” he said.
As the night came to an end with the remaining five couples in the show getting along, Brian was a bit disappointed.
“It was a feel-good episode,” Brian said. “Not as toxic as I was hoping it to be.”
But Caitlin, her eyes set on the next episode, was not worried.
“Tomorrow night’s going to be dramatic with the families coming in,” Caitlin said.
Ava Berger can be reached at ava.berger@globe.com. Follow her @Ava_berger_.
