'Temptation Island' features Long Islander: 'In real life, I'm not a homewrecker' 

Venturing from Long Island to the Hawaiian islands, Bethpage speech pathologist Meghan Pilkington appears in season 4 of USA Network's reality-TV dating competition "Temptation Island," premiering Wednesday at 10 p.m. Shot at a Maui resort, the series takes four couples at a relationship crossroads and tests their bonds when tempted by 24 single men and women.

Pilkington, who turned 23 the day shooting commenced on Sept. 8, is among those tempting the men in the couples. "In real life, I'm not a homewrecker at all," she tells Newsday by phone from home, where she lives with dad Daniel, a recently retired union carpenter, and mom Suzanne, a civilian employee for the Nassau County Police Department. "But in terms of the show, the couples committed to this idea of being open and vulnerable with other people. Going into the show I always said that as long as they think it's OK for them and the rules they created for themselves, then I'm just going to go on my own journey to figure out what I could find with these men."

Her reasoning is in keeping with her adventurous streak. "I've done skydiving," she says. "I've been parasailing. I just started boxing because I'm going to participate in a fight for charity. I also played rugby in college" — SUNY New Paltz, which she followed with a master's degree in Communicative Disorders/Speech-Language Pathology from the University at Buffalo — "and also volleyball and soccer. I did track — high jump." She is now a speech-language pathologist at Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, in Woodbury.

Pilkington says she does not remember whether she applied or was approached to be on the show. "I have a decent social-media presence, so maybe someone noticed me from there. But after hearing about it, I was like, Wow, OK, I always said I would do something like this … something different from the typical," she says, adding that, "In terms of any type of opportunity that comes to me, I just go out and take it. Anything that's challenging or different I'm just, like, 'Yeah, I've never done that before. So let's give it a try.' "

The 2016 Plainedge High School graduate has had few serious relationships other than a high school boyfriend. Her "Temptation Island" experience taught her, she says, "a lot about myself in terms of what I'm looking for and what I'm ready for. I kind of had a whole different perspective on what love truly is." She knew the show "would be a growing process, but I didn't realize the extent to which it was until after I got home and realized how much I learned about what I want and what my expectations of love are."

Also competing on this season's show is Mike Pedro, 29, a machine operator from Yaphank, who did not make himself available for interview.