Ariana Madix Off-Roaded In A Golf Cart In Fiji On Her Best Night Ever

As the host of the sixth season of Love Island USA, Ariana Madix has been serving back-to-back bombshell looks. The TV personality, who calls herself a longtime superfan of the show, is taking full advantage of the dress-up privileges afforded by the gig — wearing Di Petsa and a show-stopping black bodysuit — with the help of Emily Men, her stylist of two years. But Madix tells NYLON she’s most excited about her finale ensemble — to be revealed July 21 — which gives “sparkly mermaid.”

But in her front-and-center role, Madix says she feels more like the “ringmaster in the circus.” “I'm also getting to know them personally,” she says of the contestants, “and it can be a little stressful knowing that maybe I'm going to be coming in and bearing bad news.” As the season comes to a close, Madix reflects on her best night out, which took place during filming in Fiji.

There are some nights out that I can't even disclose publicly. And over the years, some nights out are blurry, but my best night out (recently) was amazing, and I can recall it in detail. It was my birthday here in Fiji. But the day didn't start out so well — I woke up a little depressy-poo being away from home and turning 39, stepping into the last year of my 30s. I was feeling very existential. But we basically have the best group of people in Fiji who are all working on this show. And we're all having so much fun on our time off. So my friend Quinn texted me and said, "Meet us in the lobby at 5:30 p.m. for a chill, early dinner."

So I bought an outfit at the hotel gift shop: a white top and a beaded sarong. When we met in the lobby, I thought we were just going to dinner, but they picked me up on a golf cart, and we drove across the road to this golf course. But then we started off-roading. And we ended up at this farm. Turns out it's the only organic farm in the area that we're in in Fiji. And we had a lovo feast [a cooking technique that uses an underground oven], which is something I've been wanting this entire time! We were allegedly the first people to whom they showed the actual process of unearthing the food, and it was really cool.

There are about 400 people working on this show, and the [local crew] are so welcoming. I've been getting to know them, especially my driver Manu, and getting to know the Fijian lifestyle and culture. Manu told me about lovo and how it's for special occasions like birthdays. It was also the best food I've had this entire time.

Then we had a kava ceremony, which was amazing. Kava is derived from a root and is very relaxing. It's a very important Fijian custom, and it's also something you give as a housewarming gift or a peace offering after a fight. So we sat around and had a kava ceremony, and they let me be the chief, which is usually not for ladies. We went around saying if we wanted low tide, high tide, or a tsunami — I had a tsunami, which is an overflowing cup of kava. It doesn't really taste like much, but it numbs your mouth. And then the effects are just very kind of relaxing, similar to a CBD feeling. But you're not drunk.

After dinner, there were fire dancers — they put on the most amazing performance. I cut my cake with a giant sword! That was cool. It was an olive oil cake — my boyfriend advised the planners that I really like olive oil cake, and he made that happen because he couldn’t be here with me. Then we had wine. We had gin. And then we danced. We went back to the hotel and continued to have wine. We were blasting John Summit, and Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe” was on a loop. We rode back to the hotel in the golf cart just screaming our heads off, and we also had kazoos. The entire island could hear us coming back to the hotel.

I woke up the next morning very hungover. Then people started banging on my door, and it turns out they were there to deliver the breakfast my boyfriend had arranged to have sent over: challah (because it’s my favorite), bacon, and he also asked them to make a crêpe cake for me. They told me that had never made before, but they killed it.