The 'Paradise Hotel' Competition Format Is A Perfect Mix Of Romance & Strategy

If you spent your high school summers zonking out in front of reality competition shows with a heavy emphasis on hooking up, then you may remember Fox's short-lived Paradise Hotel. And if you were a fan, then you may be excited to hear that Fox rebooted the series for Summer 2019. The competition format is a little complicated, so here's everything you need to know about how Paradise Hotel works.

It's basically a Big Brother-meets-Bachelor in Paradise romp through a luxurious tropical resort compound. The show starts with 11 contestants checking in and trying to find a hookup as quickly as possible so they can stay in the competition. Each week, a cast vote will eliminate one competitor from the show, and then a new competitor will be brought in to try and shake up the game. The only way to stay in the competition is to be chosen, à la BiP, but players are competing for more than a chance at love — there's also a cash prize involved for the last couple standing, à la Big Brother.

The 2003 version of the show doled out $250,000 to the last couple standing, but unfortunately, Paradise Hotel won't be adjusting for inflation. According to Us Weekly, $250,000 is still the cash prize amount on the table. Instead, the series plans to modernize in other ways.

One big difference between the original Paradise Hotel and the reboot is Fox's plan to incorporate social media into the game. The show will air three nights a week for five weeks in an "as it happens" format. So Monday and Wednesday nights, viewers will get hour-long episodes updating them on the latest gameplay, alliances, hookups, and strategy. Then, on Thursday nights, a two-hour live show will air, where viewers at home can influence the outcome of the game via social media, including have a say in who stays and who goes, according to E! News. It's a pretty clever update that revamps the show for the modern TV viewer, while upholding the best parts of the original (strategic romance, duh).

In the end, the final couple standing will have a choice to make. "The most exciting part of the entire show, I think, is those final moments of being able to essentially screw your partner out of the $250,000," host Kristin Cavallari explained to Us Weekly. "That’s where it really becomes: Are you in it for the love? Do you really love each other? Do you trust each other?"

A cast intro teases that some of the contestants are there to find love, while others are unabashedly there to cash in — and figuring out who's in it for what is all part of the game. Cavallari, who replaces original host Amanda Byram, said in a statement to E! News, "This show literally has everything — dating, love triangles, alliances, competition — and I can't wait to stir the pot and have a front-row seat to all the drama!"

Paradise Hotel premieres Thursday, May 9 on Fox.