The reality TV world has yet again shown its hand inits discriminatory treatment of Black women. In Season 1 ofNetflix’s reboot ofTemptation Island,TylerandTayler, a white cisgender heterosexual couple, came on the show to test the sanctity of their already rocky relationship. When it came time for each partner to choose from a pool of singles for a first date,Tyler purposefully chose one of the few Black women on the showbecause she was not his “usual type” to spite Tayler. This intentional decision of his is, sadly, another crystal-clear example of how, identical to the real world, Black women are objectified and taken advantage of for the sake of “entertainment” in thereality TV genre.
What Even Is ‘Temptation Island’?
BeforeTemptation Islandgot its current streaming platform revival, it had its first official – albeit short-lived – run on the FOX cable broadcast network from 2001 to 2003. However, after repeated low ratings for two years straight, FOX pulled the plug. Over a decade later, in 2017, when the Mediterranean Sea-set reality dating showLove Island UKsaw an unexpected public resurgence in global viewership and popularity, several networks andstreaming services alike saw a golden opportunity to profit off of the public’s newfound skyrocketing interestin niche: tropical island reality dating shows. Two years later,USA Network revivedTemptation Islandand aired new episodes for four years before its eventual move to Netflix in 2024.
As the title suggests, the dating series is all about temptation –four struggling (heterosexual) couplestest their partners’ faithfulness by temporarily living on a tropical island, separated for two weeks, with groups of singles of the opposite sex. Specifically, the males move into one house with twelve “temptations” (single women), while the women do the same with twelve single men. Sounds pretty simple? Yes, sure, butnot every duo that walks in together leaves so by the season finale.Ideally, some pairsdoindeed come out of the show with much stronger relationships than ever before, while others leave broken up or in brand-new romances with a “temptation.”
’Temptation Island’s Mark L. Walberg Is the Reality TV Host We’ve Been Waiting For
Who needs a cast therapist when you’ve got Mark.
Courtney and Tyler & Tayler: Two’s a Party, but Three’s a Crowd?
The most recent season ofTemptation Islandpremiered in its entirety on Netflix on August 04, 2025. As expected with any new season of a reality dating show set on a tropical island, it set the fans ablaze withinternet reactions, memes,think pieces, discourse, and predictions of which couples will last and which will not. Amidst other eyebrow-raising moments throughout the season’s ten episodes, one particular moment in Episode 1 sounded off the alarms in several fans’ heads: Tyler’s pick during the pre-First Date choosing ceremony. When it came time for Tyler to decide which female single he would like to go on a first date with, he selected a Black woman namedCourtney Randolph. Admittedly, at first glance, a white man picking a Black woman to develop a romantic connection with is not anything out of the ordinary and should not raise any concerns, buta closer look intowhyhe specifically handpicked a Black woman and the immediate reaction from Tyler’s (white) girlfriend, Tayler, makes it evident that Tyler’s choice was out of maliceand coated in misogynoir.
In any normal relationship, sitting idly by whileyour significant otherof two-and-a-half years “dates” another person would dredge up feelings of insecurity, hurt, betrayal, and/or unworthiness, but that was not the case with Tayler. Her immediate reaction after witnessing firsthand Tyler pick Courtney was quite unconventional. When the host,Mark L. Walberg, asked her who she thought he’d pick, she smiled ear-to-ear, pointed out two white blonde-haired women from the line-up of singles, and said verbatim: “That is his type to a T. Either blonde one. Either the one in the jean shorts or the yellow dress. To be honest,I’m really proud of him. I mean, I think Courtney’s beautiful, and I want him to push himself. I want him to know that I’m his person without a shadow of a doubt at the end.” If the über-confident grin across Tayler’s face did not portray how clearly unintimidated she was by Tyler’s choosing of Courtney,her merely saying “push himself” made it unequivocal.
Social Media Responds to Tyler Using Courtney as a Pawn
During and after their date,Tyler rarely spoke to Courtney and made no effort to get to know her.Once Tayler was out of sight, he quickly ditched Courtney for Kay, a white blonde woman who fit “his type,” and actually attempted to get to knowher– much to his success, as he and Kay ended up leaving as a couple by the end of the season. Essentially,Courtney was used as a pawn by Tylerto end his relationship with Tayler, and to pregame his future relationship with Kay.
Viewers ofTemptation Islandtook to social media to expresstheir discontent withthis obvious objectification of Courtney, to the point ofCourtney making her own TikTok explaining her experienceon the show. According to Courtney herself, there was a deleted scene during the First Date Ceremony in Episode 1 wherethe other single women in line with her audibly gasped when Tyler selected her.Mark questioned the other women about why they reacted like that and if anyone would like to explain why they reacted in shock, but – of course – they all declined to respond. Randolph went on to further describe that the group’s reaction “made [her] extremely uncomfortable [, and after Tayler revealed why she didn’t expect Tyler to choose Courtney, she] felt like it was a racial thing. It felt so wrong and icky. [She couldn’t help but wonder,] would [Tayler] have said that if [Tyler] had picked the one she thought was his type? It just felt very 1920s.”
Temptation Island
