I’ve been watching love island this season and see a cold sore on nics lip and some weird rash on Austin’s lip too 😂 it made me wonder if they STD test them?
I also was wondering how alot of logistical things work, like how do the women deal with getting their period or bad cramps on the island? Do they have smokers on the show but just don’t let them smoke unless it’s off camera? So many questions and no answers! I know every show is edited and we only see small clips of what the producers want us to see, just curious what this actually looks like behind the scenes
Edit: title was supposed to say test the cast **
These shows all do a medical work up of the cast before filming. Not a dating show, but there was a once a contestant on Big Brother who left really soon after the show began because he found out he was HIV-positive from the production’s medical team.
There was a season of survivor where someone left after only a few days because the producers found out he was addicted to some drug that had crazy withdrawal symptoms. If I remember right, they gave him the choice to leave before the symptoms hit and he took it.
For context: this was on Survivoe 42 and the contestant Jackson lied about what prescription drugs he was on. He was not addicted, but he was taking lithium. The night before the season began, he told a producer about the prescription, the show let him play the game for two days, then they pulled him on the morning of day three.
It was not optional, they forced him to leave. Survivor producers are very picky about what prescriptions people can be on while on the show due to the possible side effects being exacerbated by the stressors of competing. Also, lithium is not a drug you want to quit cold turkey, so that wasn’t an option for him either.
Yep, I remember that! Honestly, probably the smartest move he could’ve made. Survivor’s tough enough without going through withdrawal on a deserted island. Props to the producers for catching it early.
Whoa, what kind of substance causes the worst withdrawal symptoms several days after quitting??
Did this person sneak in the stuff at the beginning of filming?
According to Google, it wasn’t some crazy narcotic it was lithium (mood stabiliser). When I was on it I had to have regular blood tests to monitor the health of my kidneys so I get why they didn’t want him on some island getting constantly dehydrated.
Oh geez, the person I was replying to really sold it "addicted"
My bad, I couldn’t remember exactly what it was
Im just some dumb ass. But im pretty sure that technically, your body requiring a non-standard substance to maintain normal operation is basically the clinical definition of chemical addiction.
We just call it dependent when it's prescription.
Excessive use of alcohol can cause life-threatening withdrawal symptoms that quickly.
Benzos would come to mind. If you're on Clonazepam oder Diazepam for example, the long half-life carries you through the first 24-48h, then you start seizing.
Benzos are scary. Alcohol will do the same thing but most alcoholics learn their limits. I've been prescribed benzos twice for alcohol withdrawals and my god they work wonders, but the first hospital that prescribed them to me wrote this crazy ass confusing titration schedule that was so complicated the nurse tried to write down an easier way of explaining it and it still barely made sense.
I accidentally took more than I was supposed to one evening and the next day I was nodding off like a fentanyl zombie in the back of the car. My fiancé was scared shitless.
I told the doctor at the next hospital that prescribed them and he trusted that I wasn't addicted to them so he was like, "yeah just take no more than one every 4 hours, if you don't feel like you need to, don't."
First experience trying to quit drinking was a shitshow nightmare, second experience was smooth sailing.
Drugs are crazy, if you've never taken something before, you should start at a low dose and question everything. I was probably a pill or two away from never waking up again.
Benzos actually don't kill you without another cns depressant in the mix because they barely affect breathing. That's the exact reason why they replaced barbiturates in the 60's and got handed out like candy. The nodding off and blackouts do suck of course, but they're not inherently dangerous. Take a look at r/bartardstories for some wild stories from people who take a whole script in a day or two and get into some crazy shit. I've downed 60 pills in one go as well and just came to my senses 3 days later in my kitchen, wondering why I had to go to work in like 6 hours eventhough I seemingly just came home thursday afternoon.
Benzos absolutely can kill you without other depressants, it would take a high dose because they don’t suppress your respiratory drive as much and some are stronger than others but that’s why they make a reversal agent romazicon
No, they practically can't. Especially not on accident. You'd need a few bottles of the OG 2010's clonazolam liquid and an intense will to die to get the job done. Even then, you'd probably puke it all out before getting enough in your bloodstream to cause actual issues. That being said, dropping like 5mg of alprazolam and downing it with a few shots could end your life, so I'm not trying to downplay the danger in general.
If I remember correctly, he wasn't addicted and already winged off but it was too big of a risk to keep him?
Yeah it was Evel Dick, he decided to leave the season early after being told and producers called it a family emergency to protect his privacy
I remember that!
he found out he was HIV-positive from the production’s medical team.
I had to read that twice.
Can't believe the negligence of the medical team!
Not sure if you watch after sun episodes but they do address the spot on nic’s mouth and claim it was not cold sore
Did they say what it was from?
I recently cut my lip while shaving and it looked like a cold sore for like 8 days
There was a quick clip of Nic addressing Charlie in a confessional where he said something along the lines of “you know you hit me” it was also in reference to when the guys had a slightly heated conversation and production had to stop them from progressing
They didn't fight, they were playing football
They also get tested for IQ, they all came back negative
I got my pet rock IQ tested. He scored a 5.
They truly are dumber than rocks, huh?
I suspect smoking on camera isn't allowed due to rating restrictions and regulations. It's very rare to see it in movies these days unless it is a historical peice
Definitely saw people smoking in the early seasons of AUS and UK love island. They probably tightened up a few years ago. I wanna say someone had a vape in their lap last season too but we never saw them use it
Ummm every action movie ever? Any crime movie ever? People still smoke a shitload in movies.
Yes. This recently happened where Marvin Williams didn't pass his physical and couldn't join the cast in LA. Fortunately he rebounded well back in Charlotte
Mark Williams
My age is leaking
I know they said in one of Charlie’s interviews that Nic’s thing on his lip was a result of them roughhousing and Charlie giving Nic a nasty bruise on his lip, something about playing football but my wife and I were wondering if it was some kind of sore too lmfao
they do all kinds of medical checks... i am assuming this is one of them
It depends on the nature of the reality show. For something like Love Island where sex is sort of part of the storyline, most definitely.
Other reality shows may not require it, but if the producers get wind of anything they have a responsibility to either start by asking the afflicted person to tell their partner they have VD, or if they choose not to production will tell their partner for them. That exact scenario happened on a recent season of 90 day fiancee where a production found out that one of their cast members was diagnosed with chlamydia, but wasnt going to tell his partner. They warned him to and he did.
HE WASNT GOING TO TELL HER???? What a manipulative dumpster fire he was. Gross.
I think it was Laurel was his name? Yes he admitted he caught it from oral sex and then he got nicknamed “gonorrhea boy “.
I was on a cooking reality TV show and was tested for STDs and made to sign a non-fraternization thingy , def made me wonder what happened in earlier seasons!
We put 10 people with 10 different STDs in one beachside villa and a truck full of Spanish Fly. Which STD will reign supreme???
Find out on next week on Venereal Island
I thought I was in the 90d sub for a moment lolol recently in Hunt for Love (90 day fiance spin off) people found out that Jennifer had Herpes in her lip, and since she has made it out with two men and had an intense kiss-off scene with a girl people are saying she's spreading the illness across the whole cast lol What's funnier is that people started to call this spin off Herpes Island 💀
Also in one of the recent seasons of 90 day fiance this one dude (Loren) found out he had Gonorrhea mid filming cuz he received head before visiting her trans girlfriend in the Philippines, so he couldn't be intimate with her during his whole trip. Her girlfriend called gonorrhea "the illness of the whore" and for a while this was a huge internal joke in the sub. Mind you this wasn't even the most fucked up thing with this guy because he was so desperate to scape from America (to avoid paying child support) he even proposed the idea of marrying his girlfriend's mom to get a permanent residency in the Philippines lol
I worked on Hells Kitchen and they test the chefs/contestants
Regarding the smoking part, I don't know about other versions,but in the romanian one almost all of the participants chain smoke or use heated tobacco products on screen.Or at least they did last year,I had to watch it as a payback for hogging the TV during the Euro Cup
Herpes is so common there is no point and type 2 (Herpes simplex) is largely harmless and so left untested in favour of other more serious STIs
You don’t get a std panel for a cold sore 😭 but ya they prolly test em for the more serious stds
They do test for STDs but people don't consider herpes (oozing, painful lifelong sores on your mouth/genitals) to be an issue & tell this lie that actually everyone has it
People in these comments dont know what oral herpes is or how it works in 2025 , and that more than 2/3 of population have it regardless. Acting like its syphilis while they're probably silent carriers 😂
Its not even an STD its an STI at most and like 90% of the time its NOT sexually transmitted... You have to lick someone genitals with an active cold sore to even transmit it like that...
No you don’t. Even without an active breakout you can still pass it on.
However, the way people on here overreact about a coldsore is ridiculous. It’s so ott.
I get coldsores, it doesn’t affect my health, life, or relationships.
I mean yea but you can only pass it when you have an active infection... doesn't mean you need to have a visible cold sore though, else it lies dormant and is noninfectious.
But yeah everybody here who overreacts on "herpes" probably has it dormant anyways since its >70% of the population. And you cant even test for it while its dormant. You can only guess estimate of population by people who do get active outbreaks, some carry it their whole life without ever getting any. Its nearly impossible to not have herpes atp. You would have to never been kissed by anyone as a child or ever shared any utensil with anyone. This omg you have herpes?! bs always makes me so mad and its like nobody in europe even cares when you say "oh i have a cold sore". Its not even considered an STI here. But i feel like US people are crazy stupid about it.
Literally no doctor will give a f* if you tell them you have a cold sore. They'll only tell you not to perform oral sex during outbreak 😂
No, you don’t need an active breakout to pass it on. It’s called shedding, the virus is always in the skin so can be passed on at any time.
I’m in England and I’ve told my partners I have it, they just reply like “erm ok…🤷” lol and we forget about it.
The chances are they have it anyway and are just asymptomatic.
https://health.mit.edu/faqs/herpes
you can spread it without symptoms but not when its dormant.
Edit : when its actually DORMANT its residing in your nerve cells, not skin, thus its not spreadable when (really) dormant.
But yea literally everybody has it, the 2/3 are just the people who atleast once in their life showed symptoms, the other 1/3 is just completely asymptomatic
They test people on The Bachelor/ette for herpes, so I'm surprised they wouldn't test them on other relationship shows. Most recently, Jeniffer from 90 Day Fiance Hunt for Love had one crop up during the show and people are kind of up in arms over it.
Insurance purposes, safety, etc. Yes of course.
You bet your ass they do. You want the best, most comprehensive, physical of your life for free? Get on a reality TV game show.
They NEED to make sure you aren't going to die or spread something.
I remember a British show about young drinks dating and shit, 13 out of 20 had the clap.
i was on big brother 2020 in my country. they did not test me.
From what I’ve read they have a dedicated smoking/vaping spot off camera, that only one person can use at a time.
If your library has a copy, “Monster” by Ken Dahl is a really great graphic novel about living with herpes. Highly recommend.
Could be angular cheilitis
I think Austin has impetigo. It’s not sexually transmitted. It’s a bacterial infection that is highly contagious, but not specifically an STD. Most common in kids but some adults get it.
Obligatory comment that a cold sore on your lip isn’t necessarily the kind of herpes that’s an STD
You do know you can get either either place right? They are both STDs & you are always contagious
Not exactly. Like if you have cold sores on your mouth you’re not gonna wake up one day and have them on your genitals. They’re not the same thing
What is a reality show? There's no reality show.
I hope not
They do in fact STD test them
It seems like they don’t test them for herpes, if someone on the show is having an outbreak?
Herpes tests aren’t part of the standard battery of STI tests because we don’t have reliable tests for herpes and because so many people have it.
Friendly reminder that about 2/3 of American adults have HSV1 or HSV2, and that it's asymptomatic in most people
Fun fact, it is believed to be one of the oldest known human pathogens, predating the modern human species and going back several ancestors.
Damn. That’s super interesting, thanks.
Also reminder that HPV has an effective vaccine which as many people should get as possible because that disease is a silent killer, specializing in causing brutal cancers in men and women
But... they won't give you the vaccine if you're over 40. (in the US at least)
Not because it doesn't work then, not because it's dangerous then...
but because they think everyone over 40 has already been exposed to all the dangerous HPV strains.
So if you're in your 40's and been married your entire adult life with only one partner you're treated as a lost cause. But someone who is 39 and has had dozens of partners can get the vaccine.
I got the vaccine and still got HPV. I tested negative for it in 2023(and literally every test prior to that), positive for it 2024, then negative for it this year. However my paps come back “abnormal” now and I have to get yearly biopsies of my cervix. And because it can sit dormant for so long in women and be asymptomatic in men, I have no idea who I got it from or when. My husband has still never tested positive for it. Neither of us has ever had any other STI.
Yes! Men can get it too. It lowers rates, substantially, of all kinds of cancers. Like testicular cancer, and others. As well as preventing HPV. Btw, for anyone who's curious about it, it's a three-shot sequence and you get one shot every three months, for nine months total. So get it as soon as you can because it takes a long time to get the whole sequence.
Yeah I was curious exactly which STD tests are and aren’t given to the cast. Seems like not herpes.
Yeah Herpes is only ever tested if there are symptoms. Risk of a false positive is too high and there’s little to no benefit even if it’s a true positive. Research shows it doesn’t change sexual behavior and there’s no treatment besides those for symptoms, which isn’t relevant if you’re asymptomatic and most people are.
With that in mind, they test for pretty much all bacterial STDs as well as HIV. HPV has a vaccine so I figure they require them to have it.
Where are you getting your info about which STIs they do and don’t test for for the show? Someone else pointed out below, they do test for herpes and people get rejected for it: https://www.allure.com/story/bachelor-contestant-disqualification-reason-herpes
There is a huge difference between HSV1 and HSV2 (genital herpes).
I can’t speak to how they do things for the cast, but that’s how it works for regular people at the doctor.
theres no point in testing oral herpes
I’d guess the same for HPV.
Yes but no. There’s no way to test men for HPV until symptoms appear. I would hope that theyre checking male contestants for genital warts.
The performer panel baby!
OK, you're also just assuming that you're seeing a herpes rash on them. It literally could be anything. It could be a zit. It could be an allergic reaction, it could just be dry ass lips that are cracking lol.
Could be they are on an island in the middle of the ocean with a ton of mosquitoes too.
They literally discuss the mark on Nic’s lip is from hitting someone accidentally and it’s no even in the place it usually forms
I hate it when my ass lips are dry
Better than your dry being lips ass
Yoda?
Ass lips I hate, then dry, you must.
I don’t watch the show but herpes is very distinct looking.
Don't diagnose from your couch.
I’m not I literally said I don’t watch the show. But it’s easy to tell the difference between a pimple and a herpes lesion
Charlie hit him accidentally they talk about it
Yes they do. The number one reason people aren't casted on the bachelor is herpes. That was just acne for two episodes.
They 100% do test them for herpes with a blood test. It’s not an outbreak. Auditioning for dating reality shows is actually how a lot of people find out they have it since most people are asymptomatic. They would obviously be sued of anyone caught anything on their show
Woah , but that's true if you don't have any symptoms logically I would think no need to check for stds
In the real world most drs don’t check for HSV unless you have symptoms
I had to basically beg for a blood test years ago. I had been in a relationship for a couple years with a woman that had HSV2. I knew that it can take up to 6 months or so for it to show up in a blood test and I had never had any symptoms. I went to get tested after the 6 months and they didn't want to do it since I had never had any symptoms. I was pretty surprised at how much convincing it took after telling them I had been sleeping with someone for years that had it. We always used condoms (which I know isn't anywhere near 100% effective for herpes) but I managed to not catch it all that time!
Definitely not herpes tho. Almost everyone has that anyways.
Idk where I was unclear but they 100% test for herpes with a blood test. This has been talked about many times. It’s the number one reason people are rejected from these shows.
In real life, yes, drs don’t test for hsv unless you have symptoms or ask for it
Thank you for answering the question definitively. Interesting to know! I wonder if it was harder for them to find Golden contestants who tested negative lol
It was confirmed in the show it was a busted lip from an altercation
Idk why but that cracked me up lmao, I read it in Sir David Attenborough voice
"The female reality star craves attention and is looking for an opportunity to create drama. Luckily for her she is approaching a male costar who is already in the mating ritual with another female costar and is alone with him. This will give her a chance to seduce her prey so that the other costars can spread gossip and give her all the attention she needs until she has to likely battle with the female costar"
Lmaooo
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