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If you'd told me three years ago that I'd have the title of a Love Island winner under my belt (regarded as honourable and prestigious), I would have considered it near impossible for someone like me.
On a reality show where the format is purely balanced on coupling up and being dumped, you'd think romantic rejection would be the biggest fear. Thankfully, my real-world experience had me well-versed on that front.
Looking back on my first foray into reality TV and my Love Island experience, I see how the environment amplified an existing fear I can barely admit to myself: I am not as good as someone who is white.
When you are stuck in the confines of coloured plexiglass and obnoxious neon signs, it does make you wonder 'Does nobody want me because I'm Asian?'
It was around day three I had a conversation with another POC islander, where we questioned whether our race made us less desirable in the villa. But nothing is really just 'in the villa'. At the end of the day, it is a social experience and everything that happens in Love Island is an amplification of real-world behaviour.
The Love Island Australia contestants in 2021 (Tina, second from right). Image: 9Now.
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