'Temptation Island': Wilmington model looks for love on reality dating show

If you've ever seen Wilmington's James L.A. Thompson around town and thought he should be a model or star in a television program, heads up. He's now done both.

The 29-year-old businessman, non-profit co-founder and sometime model will surface on USA Network's reboot of "Temptation Island," a TV dating reality show with contestants trying to lure their dates away from committed relationships.

With his Hollywood looks — killer smile, big biceps and a trendy beard — Thompson stands out in his hometown, especially when he is out with friends at city hangouts such as Docklands Riverfront, Catherine Rooney's or Kelly's Logan House.

When Thompson enters the room, he doesn't have to muster the courage to approach women.

They flock to him.

So when he landed on the set of "Temptation Island," he had to do something he hasn't had to do in quite a while: Truly court a woman.

"It was a little bit of an eye-opener. These girls weren't average girls you would meet at a bar. These girls were top-notch. They already have a man, are spoken for and have high standards," says Thompson, whose last serious relationship was three years ago.

"These are good girls — the type you have to take on six or seven dates before you can probably even get a kiss," he adds. "And they really wanted to be faithful to their men, so they weren't just looking to come on the show and get crazy."

Those facts might be a bummer for some of Thompson's friends, who envisioned him getting lucky left and right.

"My friends thought I would be, I don't want to say wreaking havoc, but they thought I would be doing a lot of things that I wouldn't be too happy about my family seeing," he says. "But I had to remind them that these were wholesome girls. I don't want to say hos, but a lot of people think they are just giving it up."

More than just a pretty face

By any measure, Thompson is a catch, even if you put his looks on the shelf.

Thompson's full-time job is at DLHcad, a computer-aided design business that specializes in building information modeling. He co-owns the Riverfront business located at 110 Poplar St. with two others.

He is also one of three co-founders of the non-profit Wilmington Placemakers Inc. with fellow Wilmigntonians Jason Aviles and John Naughton.

One of their most visible projects is Wilmington Green Box, a fresh food stand opened in 2016 at 420 N. Market St.  It provides at-risk teens with entrepreneurial jobs while supplying the downtown community with access to fresh produce and other healthy goods.

Thompson, a graduate of both Hodgson Vocational Technical High School and Pennsylvania's Lincoln University, has a degree in physics and also ran track and cross country in college.

Prior to leaving for Hawaii in September, where the show was shot in Maui for more than a month, you would have found Thompson at his gym, the Central YMCA in downtown Wilmington.

When you're about to go on a nationally televised dating show, you want to look your best — especially if you're trying to steal a woman away from her man in Hawaii, where odds are you'll be shirtless at some point. 

"I spent a lot of time focusing on my diet as well as my gym routine to make sure I brought my best game to the island because I was really trying to find love," Thompson says. "If I was there looking kind of crappy, I probably wouldn't get selected. I wanted to make sure I was a catch."

He says he landed on the show thanks to a recruiter who kept him in mind after Thompson tried out for "Big Brother" in Philadelphia, nearly making it onto the CBS reality show a couple of years back.

In fact, he's happy it turned out this way. A dating show is more his speed than living in a house with a bunch of strangers and arguing all day.

Sixteen years later, the return of 'Temptation Island'

"Temptation Island," hosted by Mark L. Walberg, first landed on television in 2001, lasting three seasons on Fox, ending in 2003. It was also spun-off into more than 20 international editions.

Now, it's back on a new network in the United States for a fourth season with the same host overseeing the four couples and 24 singles.

This time, though, Thompson says the show is a bit more innocent compared to the hook-up party that was the Fox edition. (Still, make no mistake, contestants did get intimate in private rooms for the USA Network version.)

The couples, who are at a crossroads in their relationship, are split apart and each picks a date from the pool of contestants, spending the rest of their time on the island with them. At the end, the person in the relationship has to decide whether they want to go home with their significant other or dump them and leave with their new love instead.

"At first it really was difficult, but after a while they were separated from their men for so long that they just became very comfortable with us, and that's when it felt like you're getting to know them and dating them," he says.

If you think all reality shows are stunt-filled fake stories, Thompson wants to correct you. That wasn't the case on the island.

He quickly forgot the cameras were there and things got real, fast.

"There were people crying, people hurt. Feelings were involved. I found myself really caring for people I didn't know when I got there," he adds.

'My stock went up'

The biggest surprise during Thompson's run on "Temptation Island" just might have nothing to do about seeing behind the scenes of a reality show or the antics of some of the contestants.

When he arrived and met the competitors, he was suddenly face-to-face with his brother Justin Sturm.

Both had been cast for the show and the fact that a pair of brothers were on the program wasn't only a surprise to them, but also the show's producers. They swore it was happenstance, Thompson says — and that's possible since they have different last names.

Sturm, 27, is also a Wilmington native, but now lives in San Diego and is pursuing a modeling career.

"We were like, 'Yo! What the heck?' It was just the luck of the draw. We were so hyped that we were cast for the same show," he says. "It made it easier for me to be on the show because he was there."

Now that Thompson is back home, the big question is whether his stint on a show like this will help or hurt him in his search for love in Wilmington.

His friends are unanimous in their thinking: "They think my stock went up and I may have to agree with them." 

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

IF YOU GO

What: "Temptation Island" co-starring Wilmington's James L.A. Thompson

When: Tuesday, 10 p.m.

Where: USA Network

More information: usanetwork.com/temptationisland