Entertainment
‘Love Island’ Host Ariana Madix Charts Surreal Trajectory From Fan to Emmys
As a longtime player in and fan of the reality TV space, it was “surreal” for “Love Island” host Ariana Madix to see her name listed alongside major players in the space — RuPaul Charles, Alan Cumming, Kristen Kish and Jeff Probst— all of whom were recognized with a 2026 Emmy nomination for their unscripted hosting duties.
“Seeing my name up there with people that I’ve admired in life and in this industry for years is really incredible,” Madix told TheWrap. “It feels very surreal, in a way, to be included in such company … it’s crazy.”
Madix was recognized for hosting Season 7 — her second time around the “Love Island USA” block — though the nod was announced in the midst of Season 8, which only built on the ratings growth the Peacock reality series has seen since she began hosting in Season 6. But Madix had been a fan of “Love Island” long before she started hosting, with “Vanderpump Rules” devotees even recalling the friction generated by the reality star’s insistence that ex-boyfriend Tom Sandoval watch the bikini-clad islanders date in their luxurious villa.
It was her love for the show that became her superpower as she stepped up to host Season 6 in 2024, as she was able to see past the juicy challenges, love triangles and dramatic confrontations to find the heart of the show. “I think there’s something about the show that goes beyond the flashy stuff and the sexy stuff,” she said. “I think it’s really interesting on so many levels, and I think that love … translates to my job as host in a way that I think … people are maybe hopefully picking up on when they’re watching.”
Having starred on a reality series herself, Madix brings a level of care to her role, understanding the contestants are among a small handful of people who are thrown into the unusual circumstance of having their every move watched over the course of a summer, especially given the show’s success.
“They’re under such a microscope,” Madix said, noting that while she doesn’t agree with the islanders’ every move, she knows “they’re all trying their best.” “They’re trying to find a connection, and they’re making friends and, of course, they’re making mistakes,” she added. “I remember my first time shooting and how different it is … I remember being in my head about what if I’m saying or doing the wrong thing.”
For that reason, Madix always tries to show her support for the islanders “without, of course, breaking that wall too much.” Some of those moments might not make it into the final edit, which cuts down a whole day in the villa to an hour or so, but it’s still worth it.
“If I can just be able to banter with them and we get to chat and just be real and authentic, I think that is what builds my relationships with the islanders, so that when these big, hard moments are coming or I’m asking them serious questions about how they feel, they can see that I empathize with them,” Madix explained. “They can see that I’m asking from a point of view of really wanting to know how they feel … it’s not just saying [a] line.”
Madix first had a guest spot on “Love Island USA” before joining as host in Season 6. But by the next summer, she felt comfortable enough to handle all the twists and turns in store. “Season 7 was so unpredictable … you never knew what was coming next,” she recalled. “There [were] all these twists and turns that were thrown in, and I feel like because I had already had a season under my belt, I was able to ride that roller coaster a little bit better than I probably would have had it been my first season.”
Her appointment as host also aligned with “Love Island USA’s” meteoric rise into the cultural zeitgeist, with Season 8 standing as Peacock’s most-watched original season ever at nearly 19 billion minutes viewed. “Every season, all of us, on at least my side of things, think maybe it’ll drop or plateau, and then when you see these numbers, it’s really mind-blowing,” she shared.
Madix certainly doesn’t take that success for granted. “It’s really hard to get shows made. It’s really hard to get shows renewed. It’s hard for people to have jobs half the time,” she said. “It’s an industry that’s in a weird place in a lot of ways, and so for us to be able to have this, I think we’re lucky.”
And she’ll stay on the “Love Island” train “as long as they’ll have me.”
A version of this story first ran in the Down to the Wire Comedy issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
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Entertainment
‘Seinfeld’ Will Remain on Netflix and Paramount Channels
“Seinfeld” is staying on Netflix and Paramount’s cable channels.
Sony Pictures Television renewed its licensing agreement on Wednesday in a deal that will continue to see Netflix as the streaming home of the comedy in the U.S. and Canada for the next five years. As for the show’s basic cable rights, those will remain with Paramount, which has renewed its agreement with Sony for the next three years. That means “Seinfeld” will continue to be available to watch on Comedy Central, TV Land and other Paramount-owned networks in the U.S.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
More than three and a half decades after its premiere, “Seinfeld” remains a television phenomenon. Nearly 60 million Americans, or about 20% of the U.S. population, watched the show during the first half of 2026, according to Nielsen. The series also stands as Comedy Central’s No. 1 acquired off-network series as well as TV Land’s No. 2 program among adults aged 25 to 54. In addition to cable reruns, the series will continue to reach U.S. audiences through syndication deals.
“‘Seinfeld’ is one of the most iconic and enduring series in television history, and we’re thrilled to continue our successful partnerships with both Netflix and Paramount to bring this remarkable series to audiences around the world,” said Keith Le Goy, chairman of Sony Pictures Television. “‘Seinfeld’ demonstrates that exceptional intellectual property stands the test of time.”
“The show famously about nothing is in fact, everything, and we’re proud to be the streaming home of ‘Seinfeld,’ one of the greatest comedies in the history of TV,” said Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix.
“As one of the most influential and enduring comedies in television history, ‘Seinfeld’ continues to resonate with audiences across generations, and we’re proud that Paramount will remain its exclusive cable home,” said George Cheeks, chair of TV Media at Paramount, a Skydance Corporation. “Iconic franchises like ‘Seinfeld’ are foundational to our programming strategy, and this renewal reinforces our commitment to delivering fan-favorite series that audiences love.”
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movies
X-Men Reboot: Actors Campaign for Iconic Marvel Roles
Remember when actors used to pretend to be above comic book movies? These days, they campaign for them like they’re running for office.
Nowhere are the hustings more crowded than Marvel’s upcoming X-Men reboot, where — in interviews, press junkets and red carpet chats — seemingly half of Hollywood has publicly raised a hand for one mutant or another. Keke Palmer has been lobbying to play Rogue, repeatedly telling interviewers she wants the part. Cynthia Erivo has called Storm a dream role; Jodie Turner-Smith and Kirby Howell-Baptiste have publicly volunteered for weather-control duty, as well. Taron Egerton has repeatedly expressed interest in inheriting Wolverine’s claws from Hugh Jackman, while Dacre Montgomery has floated himself for Cyclops.
Some of this campaigning appears to be working — or at least getting a few meetings on the schedule. Inde Navarrette recently confirmed she’d met with X-Men director Jake Schreier after revealing Mystique is the mutant she’d most like to play, though rumor has also linked her to Rogue.
Of course, no campaign would be complete without a few polls. Thanks to Kalshi, fans can now track the X-Men frontrunners in real time. According to an analysis by The Action Network, Jacob Elordi’s chances have climbed from 24 percent in late July to 96 percent, while Sadie Sink — already cast as Jean Grey — rather academically tops Kalshi’s ticket at 98 percent (presumably she’ll get the other 2 percent when filming begins?). The leaderboard gets a little weirder from there, with Jackman still pulling 43 percent despite publicly retiring from the role, and Denzel Washington somehow polling at 30 percent, rumor has it to play Magneto.
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Also in Rambling Reporter:
How The Shards original adaptation blew up at HBO — and ended up in Ryan Murphy’s hands; Rumor has it that Jeff Bezos bought a $200 million condo in Beverly Hills.
This story appeared in the Aug. 12 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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Entertainment
Raskin: David Ellison, Trump Colluding to ‘Curtail Media Independence’
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin has penned a letter to Paramount CEO David Ellison accusing him of colluding with President Trump to “curtail media
independence, spread political censorship, and suppress dissent” as it seeks to close a pending $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
In the letter, Raskin references a Wall Street Journal report that Ellison offered assurances to the administration that he’d make sweeping changes to CNN if he was able to acquire the network, which Paramount has denied.
“President Trump has made clear he wants both ‘new ownership as well as changes to CNN programming’,” Raskin wrote.”You have eagerly shown the President that you are going to deliver on both counts as if you are controlling organs of state media.”
In a recent New York Times op-ed, Ellison broke his silence about a lawsuit from a group of 12 state attorneys general seeking to block the merger, arguing that it’s about his ownership of CNN.
At the time, he noted that he does not aspire to lead CBS or CNN to “bend their newsrooms to my views.” He also said that news should be based on facts and truth and that CNN would remain independent and “continue to answer to the facts and to all the people they serve — not to any party or cause.”
Despite these commitments, Raskin argued that Ellison’s CBS takeover “already tells a sharply different story.”
“Your company appears to be colluding with the Trump Administration to promote political and ideological censorship at every turn by stifling, revising, or censoring any news stories that depart from the official government orthodoxy dictated by President Trump. CBS’s own reporters have shared how, under your leadership, the newsroom has catered to President Trump’s political whims and dictates under the watchful eye of a MAGA minder,” he wrote. “You are creating a media environment conducive to the kinds of authoritarian regimes President Trump favors, like those found in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Kim Jong Un’s North Korea, or Xi Jinping’s China.”
Over the past 12 months, Raskin says Ellison has failed to respond to four letters seeking answers about the Paramount Skydance and Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger and the collusion allegations.
He warned that the House Judiciary Committee is committed to scrutinizing how antitrust laws are being being enforced to promote the public interest, how market power abuses may be harming not only competition but consumers, workers, and the public generally, and whether the federal antitrust agencies are successfully promoting free competition and innovation or using governmental powers to “distort the market and undermine freedom of speech and freedom of the press, in violation of the First Amendment.”
“Now that you have vowed to break your long silence, I invite you to a transcribed interview to tell Congress and America your story and answer the Committee’s questions about your Donald Trump-enabled shopping spree to consolidate news organizations, movie studios, cable channels, and streaming services,” he added.
The letter sets a deadline of no later than 5 p.m. on Aug. 26 to schedule the interview. A spokesperson for Paramount did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment on the letter.
More to come…
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