Season 5 (Love Desert)

The Season 5 cast.

The fifth season of Love Desert premiered on the **5th May 2021**, and the finale was released on the **11th July 2021**. It is the third season in the series to be recorded and posted to IGTV, after Season 4. The crowned winners of this season are El'Shreink Hoele and Aaliyah Brand, and Buss No Puss was voted the judge-favourite at the finale. 17 sims competed for the crown, making the smallest cast of any regular season.

Season 5 is distinct for its lack of bombshells, casting only one sim to arrive after episode 1.

Season 5 is known for introducing some of the most iconic fashion sims in the show's history, bringing legendary looks to the runway.

A 17th contestant, Howl Hatter (whom previously competed on seasons 3 and 4), was spontaneously brought back to this season as the only bombshell contestant. He arrived during episode 3 and was eliminated episode 4.

It is the first season to hold a casting special, in which 32 sims vied for a place in the 16-sim cast.

Three sims that competed on Season 3 returned to compete on this season, Mariela and Kinsley entering on episode 1, and Howl on episode 3. Similarly to Season 4, the contestants returning from Season 3 didn't have a notable run on their first try. Another cast member, Freddy, was expected to arrive as a bombshell on the cancelled Season 2.

Love Desert All-Stars 2 followed this season in the franchise, and 7 contestants from this season were brought back for another try. Freddy and Buss were crowned the winners of All-Stars 2, Ellie and Shawty made it to the finale, while Howl, Cece and Yerin were eliminated prior to the finale. Eva, Janelle and Daisy also made guest appearances during All-Stars 2. Kinsley, Mariela, Sirius, Nathalie, Aaliyah and El'Shreink were all guests at the finale of said season, meaning all Season 5 alumni other than Macy made an appearance on All-Stars 2.

Following her ability to serve unique fashion during her short time on both Season 5 and All-Stars 2, Cece Ishoez was later cast as a regular sim judge on Season 6, appearing behind the panel with Holy Shit as a style expert.

## Runtime

### Bonus Content

 S5 Promo Trailer
 S5 Best Moments
 S5 Best Runways

## Format

Just like every other recorded season, Season 5 has a structured elimination system:

* At the end of each episode, the contestants choose who they want to couple up with. The recoupling occurs according to each sim's decisions, typically based on each sim's top 3 choices.
* If a sim is alone at the end of the recoupling, they are eliminated.
* The judges **present during the recording** then vote with their personal opinion, listing the current couples from best to worst.
* The votes are announced, and the couple with the least votes is eliminated.

This system is much more similar to Season 3 than to Season 4, as contestants are exclusively judged as couples, rather than individually (as a sim could survive but eliminate their partner in an elimination round before this).

This system brings focus to compatibility, but can make for less genuine opinions from judges due to the nature of tactical voting.

## Contestants

### Episode 1 Cast

The following sims were cast on Season 5 during the casting special, with Mariela and Kinsley making their return from Season 3:

Aaliyah BrandBuss No PussCece IshoezEllie N. LifeformeEl'Shreink HoeleEva BishFreddy ForbevansJanelle WangKinsley Ivy (Season 3 Return)Macy GoodMariela Meehan (Season 3 Return)Nathalie NorrisPrincess DaisySirius FelonyShawty SabaddieYerin
### Episode 3 Bombshell

Howl made his spontaneous return to the competition after having taken part in Seasons 3 and 4, to compete for a third time:

Howl Hatter (Season 3, 4 Return)

### Shortlist (Casting Special Cast)

The following sims competed on the casting special, but didn't make it to the final 16 cast:

* Brandie Mercado
* Cecelia S'Webb
* Chantel Gunderson
* Devi Kaur
* Guy Kaminski
* Harmony Zeng
* Jada Vogue-Dior
* Karlie Mason
* Maritza Mayéz
* Nora Darms
* Rhea Power
* Tatianna Mckenna
* Nolan Forbevans
* Nonan Gray
* Duste Puss
* Piyovee Puss

### Cast by Hometown

\*During the casting special, in which the present judges got to choose who makes it to the 16-sim cast out of a 32-sim lineup.

## Placements

### Stats

 **BOTTOM ASSASSIN**
**(Most bottom placements survived)**
 **MOST MINI CHALLENGE WINS** |  Janelle Wang (2)

### Results

The contestants coupled up each episode, with each voting rank as follows. Note that the final recoupling occurred on episode 4:

## Episodic Breakdown

### Episode 0 - "The Casting Special!"

For the first time in Love Desert history, the judges hold a casting special to decide the cast of Season 5. 32 sims are in the villa during the casting special, but only 16 will be make it to episode 1 and compete as part of the official Season 5 cast.

A wide variety of creators made sims to compete on this casting special, and they entered as groups:

* Kaitlynn-made sims: *Cecelia S'Webb*, **Macy Good**, *Devi Kaur*, Karlie Mason.
* The Forbevans Home Patients and Workers: **Freddy Forbevans**, Nonan Gray, **Sirius Felony**, Nolan Forbevans.
* The House of Puss members: Duste Puss, Buss No Puss and Piyovee Puss.
* Hannah-made sims: Nora Darms, **Ellie N. Lifeforme**, **Cece Ishoez**, **Mariela Meehan**, Guy Kaminski.
* Jude-made sims, part 1: **Janelle Wang**, **Princess Daisy**, **Eva Bish**, **Yerin**.
* Jude-made sims, part 2: Brandie Mercado, **Kinsley Ivy**, **El'Shreink Hoele**, Harmony Zeng.
* The Ruoxi remakes: **Shawty Sabaddie**, **Nathalie Norris**, Tatianna Mckenna.
* Jude-made sims, part 3: Jada Vogue-Dior, Rhea Power, Maritza Mayéz, Chantel Gunderson, **Aaliyah Brand**.

Those in **bold** made it to the cast. Those in *italics* had their entrance cut from the edit entirely (this only happened to two sims made by Kaitlynn).

After the 32 sims enter, the judges are introduced to Holy's new pink hair, and one judge takes note of her mummy milkers. The sims are given free will to roam the villa, where Guy immediately establishes a romance with Cecelia and speaks of his attraction to Chantel. Ellie's skin is appreciated for being human skin because she is a human. Jada's sad backstory is explained, as she is the last living link to the House of Dior following mentor Banginette's recent passing.

Freddy and Daisy perform unsanitary actions on the kitchen counters. Immediately after, his twin Nolan engages with Mariela in a more sensible location. Shawty and Buss are anticipated as a potential goth couple for their aesthetic chemistry. Buss and Aaliyah engage with each other, bringing the ship name "Buss No Brand" to fruition.

The casting process then begins on the runway. Each judge was given 1 choice to bring to the season no matter what, while Jude would pick the other 13:

* The judges choose Sirius, Aaliyah and Kinsley respectively.
* Jude first chooses Mariela, explaining that if Kinsley deserves a second chance competing, so does Mariela.
* Yerin, Buss, Janelle, Ellie, Eva, Shawty, Cece and Daisy are cast by Jude next, in that order.
* In a contentious decision, Jude picks Macy to compete. This causes much dismay from the other judges.
* Nathalie is then nominated by Jude, yet again to mixed reception. Following the clear message that some judges aren't getting their say, Jude allows the next (and final) 2 spots to be decided by the judges collaboratively.
* 2/3 judges agree on bringing El'Shreink and Guy, but the third judge vies for a Forbevans twin to get in. El'Shreink is chosen to compete for sure by all the judges. The Forbevans proposal is at first completely overruled by the other judges, but they eventually choose chaos and bring Freddy to Season 5, rather than Guy.

The 16 rejects Juillet away, leaving the 16 official cast members of Season 5.

### Episode 1 - "For Real This Time"

The 16-sim cast of Season 5 officially enters the villa. Notable moments include the affirmation that Ellie is indeed a human person, the long convoluted explanation of genetic combination during Janelle's entrance, and the long convoluted explanation of Season 2's cancellation in Freddy's entrance.

The mini-challenge to kick of the season is 4 games of bowling, in the following groups (winner of each game in **bold**):

* **Janelle** vs Daisy vs Buss
* **Macy** vs Aaliyah vs Sirius vs Yerin
* **Shawty** vs Kinsley vs Mariela vs Nathalie
* **Cece** vs Ellie vs Eva vs Freddy

The winners each won a date with a random sim in the villa. As per tradition, Luigi arrived at the villa to play the piano for the daters. Janelle went on a date with Mariela, where they developed some friendship. Nobody had any general impressions of the cast so far in an iconic silence. Cece went on a date with Ellie, but they were physically unable to talk to each other in a glitch, so the date ended before it could start. Macy and Freddy dated next, but didn't develop much friendship before almost burning to death and having to cut the date short. Shawty and Eva were the final date, building a small amount of friendship. Yerin has been practicing her bowling all episode rather than bonding with the other contestants.

Guest judges this episode are Luigi and Codianna, joining regular sim hosts Holy and Fiksinya on the panel. The runway category is *Leather & Latex*, with highlights including Cece, Janelle and Aaliyah's runway looks. The recoupling and vote results went as follows:

This voting round is considered one of the weirdest in history, due to every judge having almost entirely different opinions from one another. Particularly baffling placements include Macy + Ellie nearing the top despite having no compatibility and Macy being regularly disliked, and Aaliyah + El'Shreink nearly going home with the majority of judges placing them below par.

Chaotic couple Sirius and Buss won the voting round thanks to a mostly positive judge reception. Sadly, Nathalie and Yerin, whom coupled up by default, were eliminated for being voted lower than all 7 other couples.

### Episode 2 - "No Longer in HD"

Due to a technical fault, the first half of this episode is incredibly pixelated and a washing machine is going wild in the background audio. A painting mini-challenge occurs while Mariela is busy being abducted by aliens, and she eventually makes it back without a scratch. Sirius is the winner for their painting, but the host forgets to give them any kind of reward. Shawty discovers that Ellie is, in fact, an alien, but the judges don't believe her. Kinsley plays chess alone (uh oh).

Aaliyah is commended for her beauty, and the host takes note of her underwhelming vote performance last episode. The washing machine finishes its cycle and magically, the screen becomes a much more watchable resolution.

Holy and Jerry are the sim hosts on this night, joined by two legendary moustached men: Eryk Ty L. Disfunkshen and Papa Mario. The runway category is *Halloween Party 2: The Sequel*, which is a repetition of the iconic All-Stars 1 runway category. Particularly stunning looks include that of Aaliyah, El'Shreink and Cece, while some of the worst looks of the whole series arrive in the form of Sirius and Janelle. Most importantly, Ellie's runway look shows her off to actually be an alien (or just have a really convincing halloween costume of one). Recoupling and voting goes as follows:

This episode's voting round went much more smoothly, with Aaliyah and El'Shreink getting their much-deserved flowers in the form on a vote win. Sadly, and quite shockingly, Kinsley and Sirius are eliminated after a pretty much unanimous judge decision to place them last. This is an especially unique elimination considering Sirius had just won the episode 1 vote, only to go home on episode 2.

### Episode 3 - "Impregnated by an Alien"

Widely regarded as the most iconic episode in Love Desert history, Season 5's third episode brought game-changing chaos to the villa.

Freddy starts off the episode by getting abducted by aliens right before the mini-challenge begins. For the mini-challenge, every couple gives each other an outfit makeover, so Ellie is left waiting for her partner to return before making a delayed start. After a brief wait, Freddy and Ellie swoop in and win this mini-challenge for their stylish fashions, winning a date with one another.

Frellie (Freddy + Ellie) go to the Elixirs & Brews bar in Glimmerbrook, situated near the home of the House of Ass. Future Season 6 contestant Kett Hoele and Season 4 first-out Ashley Juillet make an appearance as some bar-goers. Howl Hatter, icon of Season 3 and 4 comes to the bar and greets Ellie & Freddy, before he makes the shocking proposal to engage with Freddy sexually. This is especially chaotic considering Howl and Ellie are good friends outside the show as housemates. Once the date is over, the judges make an iconic decision - bringing Howl to the villa as an official bombshell contestant. Since there is now an odd number of sims in the villa, whomever is alone at the recoupling will be eliminated.

Mariela is read for being a forgettable contestant. Freddy has an uncomfortable moodlet that reveals some shocking news: his abduction earlier this episode has led to an alien pregnancy. It's discovered that the host cannot abort a male sim's pregnancy, and there is absolutely a bun in his oven. Freddy gives birth to a male, and he is named First Name Forbevans. That is not all however, as then a twin pops out, and she is then named Second Name Forbevans.

Holy and Fiksinya are co-host sims tonight, joined by guest sims Seink Hoele, Anelle Interkurs, and Freddy's two now-adult twin aliens. The runway category is *Red All Over*, and impressive looks include that of Aaliyah, Daisy and Shawty. One particularly bad look is Cece's, and it is almost the worst look of the season. At the recoupling, the first ever throuple in Love Desert history is decidedly formed, combining Freddy, Ellie and Howl. Although neither of Frellie had even a particularly strong friendship with Howl, never mind romance, they were decidedly a throuple for storyline purposes (and because Howl would have immediately went home at the recoupling). Recoupling and voting results go as follows:

Freddy, Ellie and Howl get the first and only 100% score of the season, without a doubt demolishing this episode and doing everything to outshine the other 10 contestants. Sadly, Macy and Cece get the chop, and it's yet another somewhat shocking elimination due to Cece's potential. Although 2/3 judges voted Mariela and Daisy to go, it isn't argued that Macy and Cece deserved to go home. As a House of Cee member with a House of Good member, it felt poetic that Cece was sent home by the likes of Macy Good.

## Episodes

### Episode 0 - *"The Casting Special!"*

*"The fifth season of Love Desert is here! In this casting special, 32 sims make their first impression, before 16 of them get the chop!"*

SEASON 5 CASTING SPECIAL
**Sirius Felony**
**Kinsley Ivy**
**Freddy Forbevans**
**Princess Daisy**
**Macy Good**
**Yerin**
**Nathalie Norris**
**Ellie N. Lifeforme**
**Cece Ishoez**
**El'Shreink Hoele**
**Buss No Puss**
**Shawty Sabaddie**
**Janelle Wang**
**Eva Bish**
 ELIMINATED
Cecelia S'Webb
Chantel Gunderson
Devi Kaur
Guy Kaminski
Harmony Zeng
Jada Vogue-Dior
Karlie Mason
Maritza Mayéz
Nora Darms
Rhea Power
Tatianna Mckenna
Nolan Forbevans
Nonan Gray
Duste Puss
Piyovee Puss

### Episode 1 - *"For Real This Time Luv"*

*"16 sims have fought for their space, and in this first episode, their compatibility is put to the test! One couple rises to the top, while another faces the Juillet treatment."*

SEASON 5 EPISODE 1
 MINI-WIN
**Janelle Wang**
**Macy Good**
 VOTE WIN
 BOTTOM (ONE PLACE AWAY FROM ELIMINATION)
 ELIMINATED (1 COUPLE)

### Episode 2 - "*No Longer in HD"*

*"14 sims are each on a journey to find love. In this episode, some find more success than others when a shock elimination sends a couple of favourites away!"*

SEASON 5 EPISODE 2
 MINI-WIN
 BOTTOM (ONE PLACE AWAY FROM ELIMINATION)
 ELIMINATED (1 COUPLE)

SEASON 5 EPISODE 3
 MINI-WIN
 BOTTOM (ONE PLACE AWAY FROM ELIMINATION)
 ELIMINATED (1 COUPLE)

SEASON 5 EPISODE 4
 MINI-WIN
 RUNWAY CATEGORY
 BOTTOM (ONE PLACE AWAY FROM ELIMINATION)
 ELIMINATED (1 COUPLE)

SEASON 5 EPISODE 5 (SEMI-FINAL)
 BOTTOM (ONE PLACE AWAY FROM ELIMINATION)
 ELIMINATED (1 COUPLE)

SEASON 5 EPISODE 6 (FINALE)
 2ND PLACE
 1ST PLACE
(CROWNED WINNERS)

## Trivia

* Season 5 has the smallest cast of any regular season, with only 17 sims.
	+ The second smallest is Season 4 with 19.

* This is the first season...
	+ ... to hold a casting special.
	+ ... to cast sims whom lived in Mt. Komorebi prior to competing: Nathalie, Shawty, Yerin, Kinsley and Janelle.
	+ ... to, if the rumours are true, cast an alien sim.
	+ ... to cast the offspring of an All-Stars winner, Mariah's daughter Janelle.
	+ ... to have an openly gender-fluid contestant whom identifies with any pronouns, Sirius.
	+ ... where only two sims (Aaliyah and El'Shreink) won more than one judge vote. They did so by a large margin, winning 4 of the 6 voting rounds.
	+ ... where every one of the first six sims eliminated was sent home on their first bottom placement.
	+ ... to not do a treadmill mini-challenge.

* This is the second season...
	+ ... to eliminate a couple of female sims on the first episode, after Season 2.
	+ ... to cast a sim who was cut from Season 2, casting Freddy.
	+ ... to eliminate sims if they end up alone at a recoupling, after Season 3.
	+ ... to eliminate a vote winner of episode 1 on the voting round of episode 2 (Sirius). The first sim to face this fate was ironically Sirius' partner, Kinsley, when she competed on Season 3.
	+ ... to eliminate any and all bombshells before the finale, after Season 4.
	+ ... to not cast a member of the House of Vogue, though some attempted the casting special. The first was All-Stars.
* This is the second **consecutive** season...
	+ ... to eliminate its only House of Puss representative on the same episode the Hoele sim wins.
	+ ... where the one Puss sim won the judge-favourite award on the same episode the Hoele sim was crowned the winner.
	+ ... where the one Puss sim was eliminated as a couple with a Jude-made sim from Del Sol Valley.
	+ ... to cast a member of the House of Puss, Good and Bish.
	+ ... to have its one and only House of Hoele representative win the whole season.
* This is the third consecutive season in the mainline series to have its one and only House of Hoele representative reach the finale.
* This season returned to the trend of casting a sim based on the Super Mario series. This trend was only broken by Season 4.
* 3 cast members (Yerin, Eva, Sirius) wore a red outfit for the promo. 2 of those 3 never made it to episode 3, where the runway category was red.
* This season cast the lowest percentage of men so far, with only 17.6% of the contestants (3/17) identifying as male.
	+ There are just as many green-eyed sims as there are men this season. Three contestants are green-eyed: Nathalie, Shawty and Eva.
* Both the top 2 couples of the season (Aaliyah & El'Shreink, Janelle & Shawty) and the 2 couples eliminated the earliest (Yerin & Nathalie, Sirius & Kinsley) entirely consist of sims created by Jude.
* With Nathalie, this is the sixth season in a row (including Season 2 and All-Stars) to cast a blonde and white sim created by Jude.
	+ Lewis, Zack, Cierra, Chad and Anelle represent this point on Seasons 1, 2, 3, All-Stars 1 and Season 4 respectively.