Mary Johnson Photo
A sleepy Thimble Island is about to become a “Love Prison,” with the whole world watching.
The island in question is Belden Island, one of the two-dozen inhabitable Thimble Islands, part of an archipelago consisting of small islands in Long Island Sound and located around and beyond the harbor of Stony Creek.
“Love Prison” is the name of a new A&E reality show series. A&E plans to air a number of episodes, but does not yet have a final count.
“We just started shooting the other day,” A&E spokeswoman Jaime Yandolino reported in a telephone interview. Yondolino said she has been out to Stony Creek, the gateway to the Thimbles. She said she did not want to divulge any further details until the series actually starts airing in August.
“We love the feeling of comfort that the island provides that contrasts with the feeling of isolation and panic our contestants feel when we strip them of their modern conveniences,” added A&E’s “senior vice president of reality development,” Drew Tappon.
In a press release, A&E said the reality show will document, with fixed cameras, but no visible cameramen, how couples, who have met online but not in person, get along during a week-long stay in a hideaway on a remote island.
“Cameras capture the couple for a week, with an all-access look at everything from their first kiss to their first fight. Each couple spends their week together determining whether or not the person they know online matches up with reality and if they want to continue their relationship or move on,” the promo stated.
Wrap.com, which covers Hollywood, wrote that Love Prison will be billed as a “unique social experiment.” The idea is “to unite couples now in online relationships who have not yet met and put them in a “love prison,” that is, a camera-rigged cabin on a remote island for one week. The camera(s) will capture their blossoming relationship and discover if it can withstand the pressure of face-to-face contact.”
A&E’s unscripted television shows as well as what it terms “scripted dramas” now reach more than 99 million homes, according to the company.
Shoreline Aerial Photography
Neighbors in the Creek have already noticed an uptick in activities and change around Belden, one of ten islands owned by owned by Christine Svenningsen, the so-called “Island Lady.” Belden has been for sale since 2012. Svenningsen purchased Belden Island for $2.77 million in 2006. (Click here to read that story.) It is now for sale for $3.9 million.
One of the Creek’s longtime sailors, Dick W. Howd, said in an interview that he was on his boat near Belden Island a few days ago when he noticed a new flag raised high on the island. It was a blue flag and it carried the words “Love Prison.”
In addition to the flag, Howd observed large outdoor privacy screens had been installed around the island. Another Creeker told the Eagle he saw a security team, equipped with holsters, stationed in pairs at the island. He also learned that two huge generators had been shipped out to the island in recent days. The generators are needed to fuel the fixed cameras and lights.
WNPR’s Faith Middletown got wind of the story this week and reported on the radio station’s website yesterday that boat captains who provide transportation and daily sightseeing tours of the Thimbles are not talking. Click here to read the story.
Mary Johnson Photo
For reality’s sake, let’s discuss “the cabin” on the island.
The Madison office of Sotheby’s has described this Island home as 102 years old, a classic “cottage” which offers “original wainscoted walls and ceilings, gas lights, fireplaces and wrap around porches overlooking manicured putting green lawn, windswept pines and a new dock!” Pictured is a long view of the island. Here is the realtor’s video of the inside of the house.
The house has no heat and no air conditioning, town records show. The Sotheby Madison office has listed the 1.04-acre island since 2012.
The cost of renting the so-called “cabin” is not known. But what’s money when it comes to romance? So starting soon, each couple will learn if the person he or she met online “matches up with reality and if they want to continue their relationship or move on.” At the end of the experiment, the new couple has a decision to make: “Will they leave the ‘Love Prison’ together or call it quits?” as the promo for the show put it.
Tappon told us, “We hope to wrap by August but we are not definite.”
When it comes to the magic of the Thimbles, you never know.
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