FBoy Island

Hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser, the show centers on three female contestants and 24 male counterparts.^[9] Of the men, 12 are self-professed nice guys, while the other half identify as fboys, the former being interested in forming a relationship and splitting the $100,000 prize, while the latter are competing^[10] for the $100,000 cash prize.^[11]

During the progression of each episode, the women select men to go out with.^[12][13] The ending of the episode consisting of three men being chosen to be eliminated and afterwards revealing if they are a nice guy or not.^[12] While the nice guys that are eliminated are sent to a mansion called "Nice Guy Grotto" in a limousine, the fboys, sometimes also called Lotharios, are sent to "Limbro". This place lacks luxury and consists of huts made from bamboo, cots and hay-filled pillows.^[14][15][16] At some point in the first half of the series, the remaining male contestants reveal their own labels to the women and audience.^[16] The show always uses the abbreviation fboy; never during the complete run of the show is the full term fuckboy used by the contestants and host.^[17]

Apart from being entertainment, creator Elan Gale has stated that the show's alternative purpose is "to try to see if people can change for the right person,"^[18] with the playboys becoming better partners and the "nice guys" getting recognition for their personality.^[12]

The series was created by The Bachelor producer Elan Gale and showrun by Sam Dean.^[12][18] Executive producers included host Nikki Glaser,^[31] Ben Bitoni, Sam Dean, Elan Gale and Jason Goldberg.^[32][33] The title comes from the slang term fuck boy, used to refer to a male womanizer.^[18][34] HBO Max marketed it as "a social experiment that asks the age-old question: Can FBoys truly reform, or do Nice Guys always finish last?"^[35]

The series premiered on the streaming service on July 29, 2021, with the simultaneous release of its first three episodes,^[10] with another three being released on August 5 and the final four on August 12.^[13][36] Upon release, it became the streaming service's most-watched reality program.^[33] On August 18, 2021, HBO Max renewed the series for a second season.^[1]

On December 5, 2022, HBO Max canceled the series, with the show's production company, STXalternative, shopping it to other networks and platforms.^[3][4] On March 16, 2023, it was reported that The CW had picked up the series for a third season, along with the spinoff FGirl Island.^[6] On May 2, 2023, it was announced that Glaser would return as the host, and that the third season would premiere on July 16, 2023,^[37][38]

On September 28, 2023, it was announced that the third season would premiere on October 16, 2023.^[39]

On May 2, 2023, producer and writer Jack Piuggi of Flipp Productions, LLC filed a lawsuit^[42] claiming the show's concept was stolen from him, alleging he shared the concept of a reality-based documentary called "Instafamous" under a non-disclosure agreement with production companies affiliated with HBO.^[43][44] On February 24, 2025, the court ordered the complaint dismissed with Prejudice. Upon review, the court determined that Instafamous was not substantially similar to either Fake Famous or FBoy Island. The court found that the "total concept and feel" of the works were vastly different. The court concluded that Jack Piuggi had failed to establish substantial similarity and dismissed the claim.^[45]

In the UK, BBC Three acquired the show.^[46] On April 28, 2022, HBO Max announced local versions for Denmark, Sweden, Spain, and The Netherlands.^[47]

Salon.com's Kylie Chung called the show "highly self-aware and entertainingly self-deprecating," while pointing out its central theme of "couple goals", when the female contestants choose their partners.^[31] In a separate Salon.com review Melanie McFarland commented that the show "flaunts its identity as the messy, issues-burdened lovechild of dating app culture as brightly as a neon wristband," mentioning that it is destined for both fans as well as critiques as the genre, such as commenting that the women shrug off the misogyny the men express and hoping they can alter their behavior."^[56] Lea Palmieri, writing for Decider, stated that it "feels like a modern dating show throughout" since "it takes itself less seriously and celebrates how silly it is that this show even exists."^[57]

The Washington Post's Inkoo Kang commented that it "works so well because it takes the 'fboy' part seriously: They're there to be ogled, judged and ultimately taken down a peg" which creates "something encouraging about a show that isn't just about whether a woman can find a man, but the right one for her."^[58] For her part, Time's Judy Berman, in a two-show review of the series and Sexy Beasts, commented on the former that it "happens to be a funny, addictive, shrewdly executed twist on a familiar format. I can't say the same for Beasts," and calling the female contestants "relatively intelligent and perceptive, but also generally have each other's backs."^[59] The A.V. Club's Danette Chaves concurred with Berman, calling the women "likable and clear-eyed about the choices they're making," concluding that the show "is a work in progress, but still worth checking out."^[60]

Other critics were not as favorable, such as Variety's Caroline Framke, who started her review by stating that "[i]t didn't take long for FBoy Island to make me feel like my brain was leaking out my ears, drip by stupefied drip," calling the use of the abbreviated term fboys "one of [HBO Max's] most baffling, annoying mysteries."^[14] For her part, Alessa Dominguez of BuzzFeed News called it "an anemic The Bachelorette", observing the lack of time "to get to know anyone … and the guys all play even bigger caricatures of the types favored by the typical reality show," calling the men "even more one-dimensional than the women."^[11] Metro Weekly's André Hereford partly agreed with Berman, Chaves and Dominguez's characterizations of the female contestants stating, "[they] are all likable, but they don't make astute choices," giving the show two out of five stars for "[saving] a few jaw-dropping twists till the end, which might be too late for some who have already escaped to more inviting shores."^[61] While The Daily Beast's Cheyenne Roundtree wrote that it "somehow manages to teeter between an exciting, funny concept and a half-baked idea that needs to work out its kinks," the latter referring to scenes such as when the remaining contestants reveal their label and yet the women continue to foster relationships with some of the fboys.^[16] Megan Reynolds of Jezebel stated that "dating shows are past the point of reinvention," with the "[attempt] to place the power back in the hands of the women, a limp gesture towards something that could be called feminism."^[15]