Committed Nigerian fans of the reality dating show Love Island USA are all primed to watch the coming reunion of the couples six weeks after the Fiji finale.

"Nigerians love drama. We love 'wahala'," says 20-year-old Nigerian student Ashimi Olamiposi, using the Nigerian Pidgin word for trouble. And there is plenty of that in Love Island.

But the on-screen drama was also matched by off-screen tensions among some in the global fanbase.

Nigerian viewers were often caught in the crosshairs with some branding them "toxic" - and others wanting them to be banned from watching the show.

This all stemmed from accusations that some in Africa's most-populous nation were trying to manipulate the outcome of the public vote as well as interfere with the social media accounts of some of the participants.

For the uninitiated, Love Island USA is the American spin-off of the hit British dating format. Contestants, dubbed "islanders", couple up in a luxury villa in Fiji, navigating challenges, romantic entanglements and public votes under constant camera surveillance. The prize: $100,000 (£86,200) and possibly love.

This year the winners of Love Island USA were Amaya Espinal and Bryan Arenales, who paired up in the last week of the show - and are still together.

Ms Olamiposi is keen to distance herself from what she calls "insane" attempts to affect the outcome.

Nonetheless, her passion for the show is still apparent when she talks to the BBC from Lagos - a month after the finale.

There is excitement in her eyes, her blonde braids swing back and forth as she recollects villa drama, late-night group chats and fierce online skirmishes, like a war veteran sharing combat stories.

"Love Island USA" was tweeted about more than 2.1 million times during the season in Nigeria, peaking at 574,000 tweets in a one day on X - more than in South Africa or Ghana.

Nigerians can watch Love Island using a VPN, which makes it appear as if they are in the US, and then access the app from broadcaster Peacock or, like Ms Olamiposi, view episodes posted on YouTube by anonymous users.

Ms Olamiposi, who had watched previous seasons of Love Island USA, says this year was different - mainly thanks to several TikTok videos of a particular islander: Huda Mustafa.

"I was like: 'Who is this girl bawling her eyes out?'" she says with amusement -........

© BBC