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Heart-racing challenges, villa drama and steamy recouplings aren’t the only things heating up Love Island USA. For her return to the dating reality show as host, Ariana Madix is bringing all the drama with her season 7 wardrobe.
Since making her debut on the show in 2024, the former Vanderpump Rules star, 40, has been staking her claim as Fiji’s best-dressed and best-glammed, thanks, in part, to her squad of pros: hairstylist Carl Bembridge, makeup artist Krystal Dawn and stylist Emily Men.
Madix tells PEOPLE that, in planning what outfits to bring with her to the island, she thinks of her closet in episodes. “After we have the big fitting and we get all the looks, then we go, ‘Okay, what is giving premiere? What is giving Casa [Amor], and which one is giving finale?'”
“Fun, sexy, sparkly,” is what Madix has her eye on for her grand entrance, which is why she and Men landed on a custom Taylor Cox mesh gown covered in over 3,000 beads and crystals this season. For Casa Amor, which marked the first time both the girl and boy Islanders were given a chance to explore new connections and recouple with new Bombshells, Madix wanted to play into the tempting “danger of it all.”
For the Casa Amor recoupling, which aired in episode 22, Madix wore an Urban Palais off-the-shoulder gown with slits down the waist and thighs. She calls it “one of the most dangerous looks” she wears this season.
Multiple outfit changes come with the risk of wardrobe malfunctions and yes, Madix admits the process of fittings can be “stressful.” But she and Men avoid run-ins with mishaps by having a team on deck to make last-minute changes. “That helps with sewing me in certain things or pinning up a skirt. I am on the shorter side, so a lot of times things are too long, so we always have to deal with that.”
Collaboration also happens between all of Madix’s artists, hair pro Bembridge previously telling Allure that his mood boards are based on the looks Men pulls together.
This season, he spent months sourcing 70 pounds-worth of extensions, hairpieces and wigs, one of which was worn for her shocking brunette transformation for the steamy Dominate Tricks challenge, to go with all of Madix’s outfits.
The look was a big departure from Madix’s natural blonde hue (“There’s no way I could pull that off on a regular basis,” she says), but the switch-up was “super fun” she says. To achieve the hairstyle, Bembridge used the Italiya wig from his hair line.
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Madix became host of Love Island USA on season 6, and her sophomore year has been a blast.
“Whether it’s a day I’m going to the villa or a day I’m shooting Aftersun, I have so much fun,” she tells PEOPLE. “We have the best team and the best crew. So even going to work doesn’t really feel like work. Sometimes there are some really late nights, I won’t lie, but on my days off, I am usually just going to the gym. Sometimes, if multiple people on my team have the same day off, then maybe we go snorkeling. It’s honestly just the best job ever.”
