Ariana Madix woke up in Fiji at 4:30 a.m. to learn she had earned her first Emmy nomination, a best host for a reality or reality competition program nod that landed while she was filming season eight of Love Island USA. The phone call came before dawn, and for a moment she thought something was wrong.
Madix said she was dead asleep when her room phone rang, and she ran to answer it worried that bad news was waiting on the other end. Instead, it was her team telling her she had been nominated and congratulating her on the milestone. She said the moment felt like a really crazy and amazing and cool feeling, and that she was over the moon.
The nomination puts Madix in a crowded reality-host field alongside RuPaul Charles, Alan Cumming, Kristen Kish and Jeff Probst. That category has become one of the sharper contests in the Emmy race because it gathers hosts from some of television’s most established competition and reality franchises, and it is now the first time Madix’s work on Love Island USA has been recognized by the Emmys.
Madix joined Love Island USA as host in 2023 for season six, and she has now led the Peacock series for three seasons. The timing mattered because the announcement reached her in Fiji while much of the United States was already awake and reading about the nominees, leaving her to absorb the news hours later than people back home.
She did not hide how much the recognition meant. Madix said it was a huge honor to be nominated, especially in a category filled with people she sees as the absolute best at what they do. She also suggested the nod may reflect how her love for the job and for the show comes through on screen.
There is still one question left hanging from the nomination: whether Madix will be there in person when the 78th Emmy Awards are held on Sept. 14. The ceremony will air live at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on NBC and stream live on Peacock, with the Creative Arts Emmys set for Sept. 5 and Sept. 6. For now, Madix is still in Fiji, where she said she planned to mark the news with sunset drinks and a promise to dance to Zara Larsson’s Lush Life with her team.
