Variant Island brings the Sexy Singles out

By Olivia Trowbridge, Blog Editor

Variant Magazine hosts their own Variant Island dating game show live at the Union Bar in late September.

Photos by Marin McCudden and Megan Young

The promise of love, lust and everything in between lives in the Union bar on a rainy Thursday night. Purple lights welcome attendants to Variant Island. An all baddie bikini party. Hosted by Aslyn Fannin and Hope Oelkrug, the night is young, the drinks are flowing, and the sexy singles are here. 

The Union’s checkered floor floods with audience members, Islanders promenade onto stage, in preassigned couples. The Union is a popular bar in Athens, Ohio, located at 18 W Union Street. Variant Magazine hosted a parody reality dating show of their own, borrowing the bikini theme and format of popular TV series Love Island on Peacock. Variant Island presents stunning contestants, willing to fall and ready to win. Sophia Parrillo, senior at Ohio University and contestant on Variant Island, describes her connection with her partner: “[There was an] attraction immediately. It was hard to act normal with her with everyone's attention on us with also the subtle feeling that I want to show her off to the world. She made the feeling very clear as well. We made plans to go out later that night, which led to the planning of our first date.” she said. 

The Co-hosts encouraged contestants to “go with their gut” with their responses as they pose a hot-seat-style get-to-know-you game. Things started out tame with the Co-hosts asking, “Who was your sexual awakening?” Contestants blurted out, “Jade from Victorious” and "Morticia Adams.” Encouragement roared out of the audience as someone shouted, “Me too!” and others screamed in a drunken excitement. 

Tension heated up between contestants when “kiss, marry, kill” came into play.  Erin Brogan, a sexy single from Variant Island, and junior at Ohio University got chosen for “kill” twice. Her counterpart, Emily Tomasch, proclaimed injustice as she proclaimed Erin for her “marry.” Other contestants had more luck. 

“Brynn Miller, you’ve got a lot of fucks tonight, how do you feel about that?” asked Co-host Aslyn Fannin.

As the bombshells’ heels clicked onto the stage, silence washed over the crowded bar. The silence only lasted for a moment, and conversation quickly filled in. Bombshells acted as a twist in the Variant Island love story. Often tempting and always beautiful, they got to pick their partners from existing couples. Natalie Schneider, Senior at Ohio University and Variant Island contestant, got swept away by bombshell Avery Gibson. 

“I was flattered when she chose me, as I feel anybody would be. My bombshell and I got along well, and I felt comfortable on the stage with her. She was a calm presence that was able to mellow out my stage nerves a bit,” Schneider said. New couples shine together as the Bombshells stood beside their chosen one.

The final round stared at the audience like the lime slices at the bottom of their drinks. Each couple stepped forward professing their love to win over the audience. An Instagram poll decides all, the audience is allotted 5 minutes for voting. 

Variant Island is just as much about the audience as it is about the contestants themselves. The crowd not only brings the energy, but also decides the ultimate winner. Upon asking the crowd who they would choose to couple up with, the verbal votes were in. 

“Easy, I want Avery bad,” said Maddie Clemens, spectator and senior at OU.

“Erin, I think she has a bubbly energy and her outer beauty shows her inner beauty,” said Sophia Butler, a senior at Hocking College. 

The prize for Variant Island was a sponsored movie night at the Athena Cinema. Two tickets; winner takes all. After getting a fourth drink and tipping their bartender heavily, the crowd filled back into their unassigned spots as Fannin prepared to proclaim the winner: Erin Brogan and her bombshell partner Laura Kamper. 

In true Variant Island fashion, there could only be one winner to test the intentions of love. Rock paper scissors yielded Brogan victorious. She beamed and looked back at the co-host.

“Aslyn, I think I'm going to share it with my partner,” Brogan said. “Good things come to good people,” said Brogan. Her high cheekbones were defined under the low lighting. 

Join us next time you get a text! You're invited to the next Variant event. A bikini-clad walk home to all, winners and losers, lovers and ex-situationships alike.