{"id":23954,"date":"2025-08-26T09:03:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T09:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/23954\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T09:03:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T09:03:10","slug":"what-you-didnt-see-at-the-love-island-usa-reunion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/23954\/","title":{"rendered":"What You Didn\u2019t See at the \u2018Love Island USA\u2019 Reunion"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Jeremiah Brown was psyched for the Love Island USA<\/a> reunion. Yeah, his time on season seven was defined by a toxic romance with Huda Mustafa that felt like a cross between Who\u2019s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and The Real World. Sure, he ended up getting voted out by his best friends. But since leaving the villa, he launched a book club and a Discord channel to regularly interact with fans, got some perspective, and even started to feel sentimental about the connections he made in Fiji.<\/p>\n

Then again, he also watched the world dissect and debate his reality-tv experience in real time. Every second of that footage would be fair game. All\u2019s fair in Love Island and war, so he came to the reunion prepared for battle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had my Discord make me a Google document. Thirty-seven pages of facts and quotes,\u201d Brown says. He pored over the notes on his flight to New York, where he\u2019d see his closest and most contentious co-stars, many for the first time since leaving the villa. Like everyone else at the reunion, he knew this was his best chance to make sense of what they went through with the only other people who would understand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was kind of freaking out,\u201d Iris Kendall, the fourth runner-up alongside Pepe Garcia, adds. \u201cI get really overstimulated when people are crying, and I knew there was going to be drama. I just felt it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her instincts were right. Over the course of the two-hour reunion, we watched 27 Islanders catch up, cry, make up, and relive their most traumatic moments on screen. Because what happens in the Love Island villa was never going to stay in the Love Island villa \u2014 especially when obsessive fans logged billions (billions<\/a>!!) of minutes watching every sloppy makeout, fiery crashout, and shady podcast interview. \u201cIt\u2019s great that they\u2019re all so busy. I love to see them succeed,\u201d Love Island USA host (and reunion co-host) Ariana Madix says of trying to keep up with the post-villa narratives. \u201cBut for me, I was like, wait, you have to fill me in. I don\u2019t know!\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the reunion filmed on August 12, those fans have been trying to piece together what went down, a full-time job given how quickly things seem to change in the contestants\u2019 lives. At publication time, internet sleuths tracking who\u2019s following who on Instagram have sussed out danger in paradise for at least two of the final couples<\/a> (which could just as easily not be the case 24 hours from now, so, TBD; we spoke to Kendall prior to those rumors).<\/p>\n

For the Islanders, reunion filming meant hours of waiting, clearing the air, and more waiting. Most of the cast arrived by 7 a.m. and didn\u2019t leave until nearly midnight. Madix, her reunion co-host Andy Cohen, and the finalists were on camera almost the entire time. (\u201cI was melting into the seat,\u201d Kendall says of what happens when full glam meets hot stage lights.) Backstage, everyone waited hours for their cues to join onstage. \u201cI was just there to show a little face card and hug everybody,\u201d says Belle-A Walker, who was dumped first from the villa. She got up at 4 a.m for glam, but as the day dragged on, she says, \u201cmy anxiety was through the roof. My hair and makeup had to be touched up six times!\u201d She didn\u2019t get onstage until 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

By wrap, the Islanders had hashed it all out. They brought up and cleared up rumors. They unpacked tumultuous friendships, including Brown\u2019s elimination betrayal and Mustafa\u2019s broken bond with Olandria Carthen and Chelley Bissainthe. They even got to watch full cuts of controversial scenes such as the Heart Rate Challenge and discussions around sending certain Islanders homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a little nervous obviously, because I didn\u2019t know what was going to happen,\u201d Brown says. \u201cBut leaving, I felt very confident.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Vulture sent disposable cameras to the set of the Love Island USA season seven reunion. Scroll for selects and see @vulture on Instagram for more.
\n Photo: Love Island cast\n <\/p>\n

Unlike shows like The Real Housewives and The Traitors, which film months ahead of their premieres, Love Island airs episodes within hours of filming, while contestants remain separated from their phones and essentially isolated from the real world. Once the season-seven islanders were back on \u201cthe outside\u201d and accessed WiFi, they were inundated with more followers, think pieces, and publicity requests than they could handle. \u201cComing out of the villa, we were just trying to figure out our new lives,\u201d Kendall says. \u201cIt was crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Love Island USA ballooned into a bonafide phenomenon, fans went to bat for their favorite contestants with a ferocity usually reserved for underground cage matches. The most beloved couples became mononyms (\u201cNicolandria<\/a>,\u201d \u201cBramaya<\/a>,\u201d \u201cChellace<\/a>\u201d). A Google search for winner Amaya Espinal rained papaya emojis<\/a>. New friendships and beefs emerged on TikTok and Snapchat; podcasts like Call Her Daddy and The Viall Files\u201dteased dueling narratives in breathless detail. After 36 episodes, the islanders\u2019 lives outside the villa became a sequel on social media, and fans couldn\u2019t get enough.<\/p>\n

The Islanders are very aware of that. Carthen took particular notice of what her fellow castmates were saying during the liminal period between the villa and the reunion, opting to catch up on interviews and podcasts rather than the show itself because, she says via email, \u201cI know there\u2019s little to no editing\u201d in those more unfiltered conversations. By the reunion, some were better equipped to self-edit \u2014 or at least more committed to the art of evasion \u2014 than others.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do I want to word this,\u201d Brown muses, before diving right in: \u201cSome fanbases are so aggressive and insane that people really watched what they said because the hate and the backlash is instant and enormous. There was a lot of tippy-toeing because the heat has been unreal on a lot of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Austin Shepard, an OG who left the villa alongside a collection of unlucky Casa Amor occupants, agrees. \u201cOnce people got confronted in the reunion, it was very PR,\u201d he adds. \u201cPeople were mapping out how they wanted to go about things. Huda was PR\u2019ed up, man. Good for her! But I was sitting there blown back, just making faces the whole time she was talking. Where was this in the villa?!\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Co-host Ariana Madix poses backstage.
\n Photo: Ariana Madix\n <\/p>\n

While Madix hosted the previous (and heretofore only) Love Island USA reunion solo, she now had a co-host in Cohen to help keep things moving. Madix had notes for streamlining the setup following season six\u2019s chaotic reunion, which had everyone \u2014 early dumpees, Casa Amor, finalists, everyone \u2014 onstage the whole time.<\/p>\n

This time, producers split the cast into groups so they could dive deeper into each topic. Meanwhile, off-duty Islanders were sequestered backstage; some of the couples, including winners Espinal and Bryan Arenales, got their own rooms, while those who left the villa single were separated into groups of guys and girls. To get extra reactions to the action unfolding onstage, the Islanders backstage could watch and comment from a green room with a live feed.<\/p>\n

The hosts also rewatched the season before the reunion \u2014 unlike most of the contestants. \u201cIt\u2019s just been so busy and I\u2019ve already lived it,\u201d says Kendall. \u201cWhatever I need to see is on TikTok. When I\u2019m doomscrolling, I see it.\u201d This stance might frustrate diehard fans who want their faves to speak to curveball questions, but Madix, having survived ten seasons in the eye of the Vanderpump Rules storm, is sympathetic: \u201cThere have been seasons where I had a reunion where I watched everything, and then there were seasons where, for my own peace of mind and my own mental health, I\u2019ve distanced myself a little bit,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

When getting into some of the season\u2019s most controversial moments, though, the reunion wasn\u2019t about to let the cast feign ignorance of the specifics. \u201cI always love an unseen moment,\u201d says Madix. Even if it wasn\u2019t a full scene, producers played as many clips as they could for context, even unearthing one extended segment to clear up rumors that ejected Islander Cierra Ortega was screaming on her way out of the villa (she wasn\u2019t \u2014 Mustafa and Kendall were just scream-singing Selena Gomez in the shower).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would be talking about something and then I would have to say, well, we actually have that, and there you go,\u201d Madix explains. \u201cI think they were all interested to see that stuff \u2014 and I was really interested to see it too, because obviously, if it\u2019s not in the show and I\u2019m not present in the Villa, it\u2019s not something I\u2019ve seen either.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Love <\/p>\n

\n Clockwise from top left: Austin Shepard, Huda Mustafa, Amaya Espinal, Bryan Arenales, Jeremiah Brown, and Belle-A Walker.
\n Photo: PEACOCK\n <\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s elimination alongside an equally shellshocked Hannah Fields<\/a> in episode 18<\/a> was one of the most polarizing events of the season, so producers decided to play both voting discussions in full for everyone to understand exactly what went down.<\/p>\n

But the clip still confused Brown, who took particular offense at the guys\u2019 liberal use of the term \u201clovebombing\u201d to describe his dynamic with both Mustafa and bombshell Andreina Santos. Brown pulled out his Google doc, which included detailed definitions and examples of what \u201clovebombing\u201d entails. \u201cThere needs to be intention and manipulation \u2026\u00a0like, I\u2019d have to be disingenuous with it, and I wasn\u2019t doing that,\u201d Brown insists. \u201cI asked Huda multiple days in a row, \u2018Is this okay? Am I doing too much?\u2019 So I laid out the definition and then gave three or four examples of why I didn\u2019t lovebomb.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kendall, who became close with Brown and was also on the chopping block the day he left, was glad he pushed back. \u201cIn my opinion, he never lovebombed her,\u201d she says. \u201cI was trying to speak up for him because I wanted to have his back with that.\u201d Walker, who counts Mustafa as a friend but also \u201creally adores\u201d Brown (platonically, they both swear!), was proud too. \u201cEveryone told him, \u2018Stand on business, stand on business!\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what he did.\u201d<\/p>\n

For an otherwise stressful day, Brown making up with original castmates Ace Greene, Nic Vansteenberghe, and Taylor Williams was a bright point. \u201cI didn\u2019t need the apology, but they all apologized and got to see my point of view, [that] I just wanted to be friends and find love,\u201d he says. \u201cAt the end of the day, they\u2019re still my guys. They were the OGs.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as controversial as that vote became, production revealed that the result was in line with the public\u2019s view. When Madix and Cohen shared the percentage breakdown, it turned out that America had voted for Brown and Fields to go home anyway.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Jeremiah Brown, JD Dodard, and Austin Shepard.
\n Photo: Love Island cast\n <\/p>\n

The other half of Brown\u2019s experience, of course, was the Huda of it all. Though he hadn\u2019t seen or spoken to her since the show, their onstage reunion was civil. \u201cMe and her are cool,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re just not going to talk.\u201d The same does not hold true for Chris Seeley, who got with Mustafa after Casa Amor only for the pair to become the first Love Island couple to ever break up in the finale<\/a>. (Mustafa was unavailable for comment.)<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and her are not cool,\u201d Seeley says. \u201cWe\u2019re not friends, anything like that.\u201d In his view, any chance of maintaining a friendship went out the window with Mustafa\u2019s Call Her Daddy interview, which dropped when Seeley and Mustafa were staying with the other finalist couples in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

In the interview, Mustafa describes Seeley as inattentive and overly aggressive, both with his words and even physically in otherwise friendly pillow fights. Seeley was floored by what felt like a 180-degree turn from their cordial real-life dynamic. \u201cI came back to the Airbnb and she still was trying to be cool and friendly,\u201d he says. \u201cI was just like, no, I can\u2019t respect you because you just literally talked about me in the worst way. It changed my whole perspective on who she is as a person.\u201d Mustafa left the Airbnb shortly thereafter. Later, Seeley says, she tried \u201crandomly calling\u201d him to make up before the reunion; he wasn\u2019t interested, so that was that.<\/p>\n

Seeley wasn\u2019t the only one stung by Mustafa\u2019s Call Her Daddy appearance. Mustafa\u2019s fans assumed her claims of being \u201cbullied\u201d referenced Bissainthe and Carthen, and the two were immediately overwhelmed by waves of racist social media hate. \u201cHuda told them she was going to clear it up and never did. She was going to make a post, never did,\u201d Brown alleges. \u201cSo the hate continued.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there was the Heart Rate Challenge, which sparked an intra-villa war when Bissainthe took offense to the way Mustafa focused on Greene. The reaction in the room to seeing the full tape was decidedly mixed, with most people sticking by how they originally felt. \u201cI mean, it was a very shocking performance,\u201d says Kendall. \u201cEverybody\u2019s performance is very shocking. I see both perspectives. I just think at the end of the day, it\u2019s the Heart Rate Challenge. You\u2019re there to get heart rates up.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the flip side, Shepard has no problem picking a side. \u201cHuda was licking dick, man! Straight up!\u201d he sputters. \u201cIf anyone would\u2019ve kissed Jeremiah in the beginning Huda got mad as hell. You can\u2019t have that double standard. So yeah, I was shocked when people were like, Oh my gosh, I can\u2019t believe Chelley\u2019s overreacting. No, man. Chelley handled it pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the reunion, Bissainthe and Carthen confronted Mustafa about everything that transpired after the villa. \u201cI felt lighter and relieved leaving the reunion,\u201d Carthen says. \u201cBeing able to express how I\u2019ve been feeling for the past few weeks felt amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their emotional conversation left Madix in awe. \u201cI\u2019m 40, and when you see women in their twenties who are just so good at speaking about how they feel so clearly, and being in touch with their emotions like that, I think it\u2019s really beautiful,\u201d she says. \u201cThat was a moment that we let go for a long time, because Andy and I both felt like it was important for them to be able to talk that out.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Jaden Duggar and Gracyn Blackmore.
\n Photo: Love Island cast\n <\/p>\n

One of the most unexpected post-villa reveals came courtesy of Shepard\u2019s Casa Amor ex Jaden Duggar, who called him out for not being honest about dating other girls after they left the show together. According to Shepard, that\u2019s \u2026 well, completely accurate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI should have been more transparent with communication,\u201d he admits. \u201cAll I had to say was that during the whole entire reunion, and I don\u2019t know why, it just wasn\u2019t coming out. I said everything but that! After we got out, I was like, man, I should have just fucking said \u2018my bad.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI talked to Charlie and Jeremiah after and they\u2019re like, \u2018Dude, all you had to say was, I\u2019m sorry,\u201d he groans. \u201cBut I guess it\u2019ll make for good entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things got even more heated once Vanna Einerson, Duggar\u2019s fellow Casa Amor girlie, got involved. \u201cIt was annoying that Jaden was coming at me and Vanna was having her back acting like a great friend, when literally Vanna\u2019s been trying to hook up with all of us,\u201d Shepard says, casually dropping the kind of bomb that perhaps indicates why he wasn\u2019t marked safe from this reunion.<\/p>\n

This he-said, she-said became one of the reunion\u2019s most unexpected\u00a0 detours, catching even the hosts by surprise. \u201cI was aghast!\u201d Madix says, laughing. \u201cAs Olandria says, \u2018That\u2019s tea for me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Love <\/p>\n

\n Clockwise from top left: Charlie Georgiou, Austin Shepard, Belle-A Walker, Hannah Fields.
\n Photo: PEACOCK\n <\/p>\n

When the reunion finally wrapped, everyone was exhausted. Some contestants went out to dinner, where Brown got the chance to thank Santos for sticking up for him. Some, like Kendall and Fields, crashed at their hotels with Taco Bell. Others, like Walker and the Casa crew, stayed out all night and were \u201cbarely alive\u201d on their early morning flights out of the city.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s surely no end in sight to the drama that hot twentysomethings with millions of followers can spark, whether they\u2019re on Peacock or not. But for now, at least, the reunion marked the end of a chapter that changed all their lives for good.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a little sad,\u201d Walker admits. \u201cUs Islanders, we\u2019ve been clinging onto each other because we\u2019re the only ones with this experience, whether it was a day or two months. Nobody else can really understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n See All<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jeremiah Brown was psyched for the Love Island USA reunion. Yeah, his time on season seven was defined…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23955,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265],"tags":[2141,20155,20156,18,117,19,17,13704,20154,15367,13705,128,16007,16008],"class_list":{"0":"post-23954","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-andy-cohen","9":"tag-ariana-madix","10":"tag-backstories","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-love-island-usa","16":"tag-love-island-usa-reunion","17":"tag-love-island-usa-season-7","18":"tag-peacock","19":"tag-tv","20":"tag-vulture-homepage-lede","21":"tag-vulture-section-lede"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}