Perfect Matchseason 3 features an array of new cast members who are hopeful they’ll be able to find love in the most unlikely of circumstances,including Scott Van-der-Sluis, who spoke to Screen Rant about the experience. Scott, who’s appeared on different variations ofLove Island, started his career as a professional footballer, but his move to reality TV has been fascinating.
While his appearances onLove Island UK, Love Island USA,andLove Island Gameshaven’t all been long stints,Scott’s made a name for himself in the world of reality TV romance. Now, coming into a whole new experience onPerfect Matchseason 3, Scott has the opportunity to be whoever he wants in a sea of new faces & personalities.
Scott spoke to Screen Rant about his time on reality TV,including hisboldest move yet onPerfect Match.
Screen Rant: So you started your reality TV career withLove Island UKwhere you came in as a bombshell. Did you have any idea that you were going to be starting this reality TV journey or you were just going to see what it was like?
Scott Van-der-Sluis: I mean, I never really thought that I’d ever get into this world, to be honest. The only thing I ever knew with growing up was like playing football and yeah, that’s what I was doing before it. And then obviously Love Island UK got in touch with me. I’d watched the show before it, like at that point, Love Island UK, like everyone watched it in the country. I mean, it’s not, it’s maybe not like that anymore, but it was at that point. And then I got the chance to go on and obviously, sorry, I got the call and I just kept going through the process and through the process and then suddenly they want to fly you out. And I don’t think you could ever predict that all this would happen from it. Like you could, I could have gone on there and been dumped within three days, but luckily I was in there for six weeks. I made an impression and yeah, I’ve had some unbelievable life experiences since.
Screen Rant: What did you learn about relationships through that first experience?
Scott: I think the biggest thing that you learn is like every action you do, you’re sort of held accountable for. Now I always tried to sort of treat women as the best I possibly thought I could, but there was times when maybe like I’d ghost someone or I wouldn’t reply or something like that. You can’t do that in there. Like you make a decision, you’re then living with that person and you’re living with every consequence of every action. So you’ve, you are sort of held accountable for everything you can do. And I think that’s a good thing where it teaches you how to communicate and it teaches you how to be around people and how to speak and how to act and stuff like that.
Screen Rant: That’s so interesting to think about. Like you really don’t consider it from a viewer’s perspective, but you really are stuck with that, with those people.
Scott: Yeah, that’s the thing. Like you only see it like an hour a day, but like you are living with them people 24 hours. If you have an argument with someone, you’re then living in the house with them for the next 23 hours after that. And the viewer just sees the hour and they’re like, you have the argument and then you’re off screen until the next day. And, but the reality is like, if, if you’re going to speak to someone or argue about something, you need to be prepared that it’s going to be a little bit awkward around the villa from then on for the next 24 hours.
Scott’s Appearance On Love Island USA Was Directly After His UK Experience
It Gave Him An Entirely Different Perspective
Screen Rant: AfterUK, you went right on toLove Island USA, which - your stay there was brief, but what did you notice in terms of differences or challenges between the US and UK versions, if anything?
Scott: I think I liked the banter with the Americans anyway, to be honest, as in like, I feel like American girls are a little bit more bubbly and you can sort of bounce off them. Um, but I also, it felt like a lot of freedom for me because Love Island USA at that point, that was the, I was like the last bombshell before it blew up. So it felt like freedom. Like it felt like I can do a little bit of what I want here without anyone watching, if you know what I mean? Like I’ll get away with it. Obviously, if I went on the USA one now, it’s absolutely blown up. But, um, yeah, at that point it just felt like a bit of freedom and it felt like, like, I’ll go on, go and be a 22 year old boy. I felt more like a boy when I was 22, to be fair [laughs]. So don’t be a 22 year old boy and go and live life and do what you want. You’re in Fiji, just enjoy it.
Screen Rant: Did your experience on the UK version of the show change the approach that you took going into US, or were you like, okay, let me just try this as a new experience?
Scott: A little bit of both. I think it was definitely a new experience for me, but you’d be lying if you said like, you know what, like you come out, you know what people liked, you know what people didn’t like that you did and you know what’s going on now. And that is why the first time someone goes on reality TV, it is so raw. Um, and there’s advantages to people go back on TV because it like, they do know when to create drama and all that, but it’s definitely not as real.
Screen Rant: What was the biggest adjustment going from like a dating dynamic to that really challenge-driven environment? I imagine, especially having your background in football, you were very much ready forGames.
Scott: Yeah, I think because I’d gone straight from UK to US, I needed, I couldn’t have done like a purely dating show again. Like I didn’t like a dating related show like straight away after that. Like I needed something that was a little bit like more lighthearted and where there was games involved and stuff like that. So that was the thought process behind it. Like mentally I can do this. Um, and I feel like I was only in there about four or five days, but it was about perfect. I couldn’t have done the full stint on Love Island Games because it was three months of back to back to back. Like it takes its toll on you mentally at that point.
Scott’s Perfect Match Experience Is A Whole New Journey
He’s Ready To Share What Happened
Screen Rant: Turning toPerfect Match,a new experience for you. How did it compare to yourLove Islandexperience?
Scott: Do you know what, for me, I was always a bombshell. So again, it’s, it’s one of them things that, um, like you’re, you’re just used to it. You’re used to people being prepared. You’re used to having to go and break someone up or hopefully hope that something’s gone wrong. So there’s a way in like the, I’m used to all that. So it wasn’t too far out. It was just a very condensed and intense experience compared to Love Island. Like everything was happening so much quicker, so much faster. There was much more turnover of what was going on. But yeah, I enjoyed it. I’d say that was, that was probably the most fun experience I’ve had in any of the reality shows I’ve done so far.
Screen Rant: That’s exciting to hear. In terms of the more strategic layers toPerfect Match, how did that feel like going into a show that was a little bit more strategically minded around dating?
Scott: Again, I think Love Island Games sort of prepares you for that a little bit. I think strategy is always involved because like, yeah, you go on a show, you need to give yourself the best chance of one finding someone, but you need to be in the villa to find someone. If you’re getting dumped after a few days, then you’re not going to find someone in there. So you need to be able to stay in there for a while and, and speak to everyone and give yourself the best possible chance of that. So there, there’s always a strategic mind to these shows. There’s a prize pot at the end of it.
There’s always going to be a strategic side of it. Um, how you get to that prize pot is obviously down to you and that, but like, you, you don’t want to be dumped. You want to give yourself, you want to wait, you want to stay in and wait for the next bombshell. Like people who say like, oh, they’re just staying in for the sake of staying in. Well, you’re not staying in for the sake of staying in. You’re staying in because maybe there isn’t anyone in the villa for you right now, but there might be a bombshell who’s coming in. So you need to do what you can to stay in.
Screen Rant: So this cast is really diverse in terms of where everyone’s coming from. We haveBachelor, we haveToo Hot To Handle. We have likeLove Island, obviously. How did mixing with all those different franchises feel? You all have similar experiences, but not quite the same. Did you notice any kind of division?
Scott: No, I don’t think there was any division. And I think that’s what makes the dynamic so interesting because everyone is constantly involved and involved in every conversation at all times, really. And you’ve got all these people who have gone on a show and how they act and talk on that show. And they’re bringing up all these different dynamics into this one house. I think it’s, it’s absolutely fascinating to be honest. And I think, and I think it’s fascinating in the, in the house at the time.
Screen Rant: It’s such a melting pot.
Scott: It was new for me because I didn’t know anyone in that, like this shows that there’s obviously been a big thing made of like the bachelor. I don’t know anyone. I’ve never seen The Bachelor. Isn’t a big thing in the UK. We don’t know about that. Like I’ve never heard of anyone from the show Too Hot To Handle. I watched a couple of the earlier seasons and knew like, I knew like Louis [Russell] but apart from that, there wasn’t really anyone who I knew. So there’s people, still honestly, people come up to me now from our past and I still can’t remember what show they’re from. I think that speaks to the the volume of the amount of shows in there, like, and how interesting it’s going to be.
Screen Rant: In terms of personal growth or romantic insight, what can we expect see onPerfect Matchfrom you there?
Scott: I don’t think there is too much. I don’t think I ever, I don’t think I was ever immature. I felt like a boy. I don’t think it was ever immature on like my, my Love Island seasons, for example. And this was filmed nearly a year ago now. So I was, I was only a year after Love Island, so it wasn’t too dissimilar. Maybe I was just a little bit more clued on into what people were thinking and who had a game plan and stuff like that. I don’t feel like I was too different. I still feel like I held myself well. Um, you’re never going to get everything right, but I still feel like I acted like I wouldn’t go back and overly change anything. The bits that don’t get right, I think will make for good TV. So I’m not, I’m not going to look at it and think, right, like I need to go back and change anything. I still feel like I acted in a, in a, like an honorable way most of the time anyway.
Perfect Matchseason 3 is available to stream on Netflix, with new episodes dropping each Friday.
Perfect Match
Cast
Perfect Match is a strategic and seductive dating competition where couples demonstrate their compatibility to influence the outcomes of other relationships. Released on July 26, 2025, the show explores themes of romance and strategy, challenging participants to form alliances while navigating complex interpersonal dynamics.
