'I visited the set of FBOY Island, and witnessed a scene that will never end up on TV.'

In many ways, visiting the set of FBOY Island Australia is like attending a Taylor Swift concert.

There are women clad in fun, colourful outfits. Everything appears to have a secret meaning. And the situation becomes infinitely less enjoyable once men appear on the scene.

Earlier this year I returned to the set of FBOY Island Australia, a seaside mansion tucked away on a section of the coast nestled between Northern New South Wales and the Gold Coast, to witness the Binge series' second season of filming.

During my first foray into the world of F Boys in 2023 I arrived on set to find a sprawling mansion decorated with enough penis paraphernalia to fuel a decade's worth of bachelorette parties. A decor style, I soon discovered, that was infinitely less terrifying than the groups of underwear-clad men roaming freely about the property. The only concern occupying their chiseled heads being the amount of liquid they should sprinkle over their abs in order to get the perfect amount of shine for the cameras.

The crux of FBOY Island, for the uninitiated, is that three leading ladies are placed in a mansion with a group of men, half of which are self-professed 'nice guys', while the other half identify as F Boys. The women are looking for love and in the process they weed out the F Boys and send them home, hopefully with a few snarky one-liners thrown into the mix. The show is hosted by reality TV royalty, Abbie Chatfield.

This time around, my first stop was the girl's villa, a quiet but lux sanctuary where 28-year-old Krystal Thomas, 27-year-old Ally Woodfall and 26-year-old Nicole Mitrov retreat after full days of dodging F Boys and cavorting with possible 'nice guys'. 

Krystal has ridden the Australian reality TV rollercoaster once before, after appearing on The Bachelors Australia last year. In an unexpected plot twist, she's quick to tell me that the ride has been much smoother with the F Boys than with the Bachelors.

"I've been on The Bachelor and that obviously didn't go so well," she told me while nestled between Ally and Nicole on a plush couch, the pool they haven't had time to use yet thanks to their hectic filming schedule glistening behind them. "Then I got the call from FBOY Island asking if I wanted to be in the driver's seat this time.

"The three of us not getting along was my biggest fear," she continued, gesturing to the women on either side of her. "I mean I came off The Bachelor so…say no more! That was a zoo of women and it was crazy. I was in a house with 30 other females and it became a competition, so I was a bit triggered from that experience. I thought to myself 'oh I can’t do this again'.

"Then I met these girls and they are like my best friends from home. They’re so nice... and hot."

"The day we were meant to start filming, our schedules got mixed up," Nicole adds in. "So we unexpectedly ended up having a full day to get to know one another before we started filming. Within 20 minutes we were all friends 

"I've been manipulated so badly in the past," Nicole replied when I asked what motivated her to sign her life away on FBOY Island. "I dated F Boy after F Boy and those relationships went nowhere. This is the only reality show I'd do because I'm not the type of person who would tear down my girlfriends just to get a guy. We all just want the nice guy."

Nicole Mitrov, Krystal Thomas and Ally Woodfall at the girl's villa on the set of F Boy Island. Image: Supplied. 

This is also Ally's first venture into reality TV, but in this case she discovered during her early days on FBOY Island that she had an unexpected (and unwelcome) connection to the show's first season.

"It was during the casting process that they realized I had this connection," she said. "My connection to the first season is that unfortunately, I dated (season one contestant) Vernon, so it’s all a bit more juicy and entertaining.

"He was the F Boy of them all, so the show fit him to a T," she continued. "I didn’t know he was going on the show, I just started getting sent all of these snippets and messages of him on the show and I was just gagging watching them all. I thought it was hilarious."

At this point in time the girls are deep into the filming process and have been subjected to herds of F Boys preening in front of cameras and spinning them a web of (poorly crafted, from the sounds of it) lies. So I asked them exactly how to spot an F Boy in the wild. 

But they tell me the situation is now much more dire than just being on the lookout for one type of F Boy anymore. Apparently, they have multiplied. 

"There are three types of F Boys in the world now," Krystal informed me. "So you have the 'Textbook F Boy' who'll be dressed in skinny jeans. He's just a bit too good-looking and his hair is all slicked back.

"He looks in the mirror and he is very happy with what he sees," Ally added.

"The second type of F Boy flies under the radar a bit," Krystal continued. "He has some questionable behavior because he flies under the radar as a nice guy, but there's three of us so we've been able to spot his lies. 

"Then there’s the F Boy who has 'been through something' and you feel a bit sorry for this F Boy because he's been hurt in the past. He’s an emotional F Boy, and that’s the one you really have to watch out for.

"These are the ones who will really manipulate you," Ally said. "They will make you feel like you’re the problem."

Much like leaving a Taylor Swift concert, leaving the girl's villa and heading to the FBOY Island mansion felt like an unwelcome jolt back into reality.

When they're not filming, the F Boys and Nice Boys (although at this point in time it's hard to spot the difference) spend some of their time lazing around their opulent temporary home, on couches surrounded by Tiki Torches. But most of their time is spent in the outdoor gym tucked around the corner of the house, they were quick to tell me. 

My guess is that the rest of their time is spent catching glimpses of their own reflections in any available surface - a stray glass, the surface of the pool and a visiting journalist's sunglasses all seemingly provdining excellent options.

My visit coincides with the filming of a challenge and once the three women arrive and action is called, it becomes clear that this crop of F Boys are all living in their own private version of A Star Is Born and are extremely keen to be in the spotlight.

One of the biggest questions around reality TV is what happens once the cameras stop rolling, and in the case of FBOY Island, there are strict rules put in place for how the stars interact when the audience can't participate.

Once filming of this particular activity is wrapped, Krystal, Ally and Nicole were ushered in one direction by their producers, while the boys were led away in another. And if you attended a single sex school in your youth, this scene might bring about some unexpected teen nostalgia.

Then suddenly, much like an over zealous dolphin breaking away from its pod, one boy rushed toward Nicole brandishing one of the props from the activity they had just filmed, hoping to score a little extra favour with the lady he clearly had his eye on.

At the same moment, the crew and producers sprung into action, horrified that any interaction between the pair would happen away from the cameras and not give audiences the full scope of what was happening within this reality dating experiment.

In a scene that you won't see on your TV screen this year, the wayward man was quickly pulled away from the girls and admonished for his rogue actions. I am not sure what his fate was following this moment (or even his name, for that matter) but I do hope that whatever farm the FBOY Powers That Be banished him to for his crimes has a good family and a mirrored home gym at the ready. 

It is too soon to tell if season two of FBOY Island Australia will result in two successful relationships, as the first iteration did, but I feel safe in the assumption that we are in for scenes that include many bare chests, three take-no-shit women, and just the right amount of beachside drama.

FBOY Island Australia will premiere on BINGE and Foxtel from Monday August 5.

Feature image: Binge

Laura Brodnik is Mamamia's Head of Entertainment and host of The Spill podcast. You can follow her on Instagram here for more entertainment news and recommendations.