‘Temptation Island’: Mark L. Walberg Explains Season 4’s Surprising First (VIDEO)

Temptation Island is back. The reality dating show returns for Season 4 Wednesday, March 16 on USA Network. And we spoke with host Mark L. Walberg about what to expect in Temptation Island Season 4.

The reality dating series has a unique structure that’s built for drama. Each season, four couples put their vulnerable relationships to the ultimate test by traveling to a tropical paradise where 24 single men and women wait for them, all eager to find love. The couples are all questioning the same thing: Should we be together? By the end of the season, they have their answers.

The couples “must decide whether to commit to a lifetime together — or ultimately give in to the temptation waiting for them on the island,” the series description says. Sometimes, that temptation is to leave the island alone. But no matter what decisions the couples make — whether they stay together, commit to someone new, or leave solo — there’s no grand prize at the end. The prize, as Walberg explains it, is quite literally the life lessons you learn along the way.

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Walberg hosted the original Temptation Island that premiered in 2001. Season 2 debuted later that year, but Season 3 didn’t come out until 2021. After witnessing countless couples rise and fall through the seasons, Walberg says Temptation Island Season 4 is “a very heady, emotional ride” and features a series first.

“That emotion comes early from the guys,” he says. “Usually I find that the women are a little bit more in touch in seasons past, and it takes a little while before the guys go from like boyish, ‘Oh my god, it’s crazy and fun,’ to having some real emotions,” he says. “But these guys are thinkers and feelers and poets and artists and got very emotional very quickly. I think that’s an interesting difference in this season.”

Season 4’s couples are Ash Lamiroult and Hania Stocker (together 1.5 years), Ashley Rodriguez and Lascelles Lagares (together seven years), Gillian Lieberman and Edgar De Santiago (together four years), and Iris Jardiel and Luke Weschselberger (together four years). Walberg serves as a helpful sounding board for each of them after they’ve separated from their partner. And while he’s seen his fair share of unhealthy partnerships throughout his time on the show, Walberg says he’s “never rooting for anyone to break up.”

“There are times when it’s apparent that this isn’t making either person happy,” he says. “And what I’m rooting for, in a phrase, is that everyone leaves the island having discovered something that has them in a better place than they were when they arrived. Even if it’s painful, that’s what I’m rooting for.”

Walberg and fans will see what’s in store for the couples and their tempting singles when Temptation Island Season 4 airs March 16.

Temptation Island, Season 4 Premiere, March 16, 10 pm ET, USA