EPISODE #1 - Paradise Beckons…
Original Air Date: January 10, 2001

In the premiere episode, four unmarried couples, each in their own homes, prepare and pack for their trip to Temptation Island. Andy and Shannon from Malibu have been together for five years; Billy and Mandy from Atlanta, a year and a half; Taheed and Ytossie from Los Angeles, on and off five and a half years; and Kaya and Valerie from Miami, a year and a half. The couples board a small plane for the tiny island of Ambergris Caye in Belize (Temptation Island).

When they land in San Pedro Town, they are met by an islander armed with flowers. She leads them to a stunning catamaran waiting at the water's edge. Host Mark L. Walberg greets them with champagne and they all sail to Mata Chica, one of the two main resorts on Temptation Island. While in transit, each couple explains their reasons for participating in the ultimate relationship test. Taheed has cheated on Ytossie in the past, so she wants to see if he can be faithful at all. Shannon thinks this will give Andy the kick in the butt she thinks he needs to make a bigger commitment. Kaya has gone from one serious relationship to another and has never given himself the chance to be single. He wants to take full advantage of this opportunity, but his girlfriend Valerie has marriage in mind. Billy already knows that Mandy is the one for him forever, but Mandy is more reticent; she believes she needs to see other girls wanting Billy because it will strengthen her devotion to him.

Upon arrival, the group settles into an intimate cocktail party hosted by Mark. In the middle of the party, the single men and women parade through the gathering of couples. While all the couples express confidence that there is nothing to worry about, the coupled women admit to being jealous and refute the coupled men's claim that the single guys aren't that impressive. After the cocktail party, the men and women are separated for the night. The men are sent to another part of the island - their new home, Captain Morgan's Retreat (CMR) - leaving the women at their new home, Mata Chica.

The next morning, the women are brought from their resort to the men's resort to join their partners. At the CMR pool, they meet up with host Mark, who leads them through formal introduction to the male and female singles who will be their prospective dates. Among the singles are a navy flight instructor, a doctor, a masseur, and models and musicians. During the event, our coupled guys are given a unique opportunity to cast off one male single whom they are most "threatened" by. They choose Ace because during his intro he performs an intriguing salsa and hip-hop dance. Likewise, the coupled ladies must kick off the female single who intimidates them the most. They choose Yvonne because Ytossie believes she has too much attitude. During the next phase of the event, the couples must block one single from dating their mates. The block is symbolized by a colored bracelet that corresponds with the color-coded necklaces each of the couples wear. Andy blocks Jon (special education teacher); Taheed blocks Maceo (musician); Kaya blocks Sean (masseur). Billy blocks Sean too. On the ladies' side, Mandy blocks Carla (musician); Ytossie blocks Venus (doctor); Valerie blocks Megan (kindergarten teacher and former Laker Girl), and Shannon blocks Elizabeth (New York City real estate agent).

Immediately after the event, the coupled guys, particularly Taheed and Andy, get acquainted with their blocked singles, Elizabeth and Venus. That night, the couples join Mark for a final dinner together at Mata Chica. Andy and Taheed confess that their blocks approached them and they enjoyed getting to know them. They discuss how the bracelets may have made the blocked singles more alluring.

After dinner, the couples have an emotional goodbye, knowing they won't talk or spend time with each other for the next two weeks. Ytossie and Taheed spend their last minutes together in a heated argument, which ends with Ytossie storming off. The men return to their resort in rare form, ready to throw themselves into their new single life. In contrast, at Mata Chica, Ytossie sits quietly in a lounge chair while Mandy, Valerie and Shannon try to bolster her spirits.