{"id":68703,"date":"2025-07-17T02:06:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T02:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/68703\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T02:06:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T02:06:12","slug":"love-island-usa-amaya-and-bryan-on-winning-future-plans-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/68703\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Love Island USA’ Amaya and Bryan On Winning, Future Plans and More"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\u201cLove Island USA<\/a>\u201d Season 7 winners Amaya Espinal<\/a> and Bryan Arenales<\/a> walked away as a new couple with $50,000 each, but it was a long and twisty road to get there.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe show started as a challenging journey for Espinal, whose connections with Ace Greene,<\/a> Austin Shepard and Zak Srakaew quickly fizzled before she sparked with Arenales. Throughout the season, she captured the hearts of fans nationwide with her irresistible personality and empowering one-liners. Arenales became an instant fan favorite when he spoke up to defend Espinal during the heated Stand On Business challenge, where Arenales\u2019 personality was openly criticized by other male cast members. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe winning couple spoke with Variety about their relationship, their individual journeys throughout the villa and who they plan to address at the reunion.<\/p>\n

\t\tYou both made Love Island USA history as the first Latino couple and pair of bombshells to win the show. What does breaking that barrier mean to you both?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAmaya Espinal<\/strong>: It\u2019s a huge statement. I\u2019m glad that we were able to represent our Latino community and also show the audience that our connection is real and powerful, and that the Casa Amor or bombshell narrative doesn\u2019t mean anything.<\/p>\n

\n\tBryan Arenales<\/strong>: We set this new standard because people look down upon Casa or bombshells. Now, you can\u2019t look down on it. It\u2019s a matter of being yourself and making the right connections, rather than trying to play the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tYou\u2019ve become known for your iconic quotes. How does it feel knowing your words have resonated with so many people?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAmaya: <\/strong>It\u2019s such a powerful feeling. They\u2019re telling me I\u2019m speaking metaphors. I learned that in fifth grade, but I forgot what it meant. So then I searched it up on Google, and I\u2019m like, \u201cOh shit, I do.\u201d It\u2019s just me speaking from the bottom of my heart with so much passion. I find it beautiful that it resonates with a lot of people.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat\u2019s your favorite quote that you\u2019ve said?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAmaya: <\/strong>I\u2019m a sensitive gangster.<\/p>\n

\t\tYou both mentioned donating a portion of the money. What are your other plans for how you\u2019ll spend the money?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAmaya:<\/strong> We want to invest and make sure our future is set up for our future family and kids. A vacation is needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat destination do you have in mind?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tBryan: <\/strong>We haven\u2019t been to Turks and Caicos yet, so there for sure.<\/p>\n

\t\tYour final date was a fan favorite. Why did you feel that was the right moment to ask Amaya to be exclusive?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tBryan: <\/strong>It was set up so perfectly. Honestly, we took all the right steps. It just felt right, and I knew it was the end. I wanted to let her know and see where her priorities were with us and continue taking the steps to make everything work.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat does building this connection look like now that you\u2019re outside of the villa?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAmaya:<\/strong> Prioritizing quality time. I want to meet other members of his family, especially his mommy. He needs to meet my siblings. Small things that are very impactful and sentimental to both of us, like going on dates or having movie nights in each other\u2019s houses. We want to enjoy each other\u2019s company now that cameras and mics are off.<\/p>\n

\t\tYou remained true to yourself even when connections with Ace, Austin and Zak didn\u2019t work out. Did you ever feel like your person wasn\u2019t in the villa?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAmaya: <\/strong>At one point, yes. After a certain amount of time, you\u2019re able to figure out whether this person is more platonic or romantic. If one door wasn\u2019t opening, I was like, \u201cOK, close. Next.\u201d But at a certain point, I was like, \u201cDamn, who else is in here that I could build that connection with?\u201d Then I met Bryan in Casa Amor and was already physically attracted to him. We\u2019d never flirted at that time. We always had conversations. After he stood up for me, I was like, \u201cWait, hold on. My heart is not the only one with a heartbeat right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tWas there ever a point you considered leaving the show?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAmaya: <\/strong>No, because I remained hopeful. One thing that someone should never lose sight of is always having hope and faith. Regardless of whether a certain connection wasn\u2019t working out for me, I remained faithful.<\/p>\n

\t\tIt was great to see you and Ace resolve things after having a rocky start, but viewers didn\u2019t get a chance to see that moment where you talked it out. What did the conversation look like behind the scenes?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAmaya:<\/strong> He was sitting across from me at one of the tables. We both looked at each other and were like, \u201cAll right, I think it\u2019s time to call a truce.\u201d Clearly, things had not worked out, and we\u2019re better off as friends, especially since I have such a great friendship with Chelley. I didn\u2019t want things to be awkward or for there to be negativity. We shook hands. I was like, \u201cYo, truce? No beef, just chicken.\u201d Then we hugged it out. We started becoming the best of friends after that.<\/p>\n

\t\tDid that conversation happen before the Heart Rate Challenge?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAmaya: <\/strong>It happened before that. But when he was like, \u201cWhat\u2019s up, babe,\u201d to me at that challenge, my mouth was on the floor. I was gagged.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tAfter Casa Amor, you told the guys you found Amaya attractive. What prevented you from pulling Amaya for a chat early on?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tBryan:<\/strong> I always found her super attractive and my type. But we started as friends and went our separate ways. She talked to a couple of different people. At the time, I was with Andreina and just exploring that. We just ended up having that one conversation on the chairs, and that changed everything.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat made you come to Amaya\u2019s defense during the \u201cStand On Business\u201d challenge?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tBryan: <\/strong>It was just a natural reaction. I felt like people were dimming her light. As everybody knows, she has a very bright light, and I don\u2019t think anybody should dim that. It\u2019s our culture, and people weren\u2019t understanding it. They were telling her they needed to meet her halfway. And it felt like they weren\u2019t meeting her halfway. With our culture, that\u2019s just how we talk.<\/p>\n

\t\tDid it bother you that none of the girls spoke up for you during that challenge?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAmaya:<\/strong> During the whole time, I blacked out. It was hard for me to focus on what everybody else was saying. When I did walk away, Huda and Cierra did make it a priority to come and console me. Even though they didn\u2019t speak up for me during that time, they were there to help me calm down. I don\u2019t view it as them not speaking up for me because they did that.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhen Zak tried to circle back after America ranked you the highest in the \u201cHate To Burst Your Bubble Challenge,\u201d did you feel that he was being genuine?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAmaya: <\/strong>I don\u2019t have the best eyesight in general, but when I tell you I had 20\/20 vision. I saw right through that bullshit.\u00a0I was trying to keep it cute and classy. I\u2019m not going to be nasty towards anybody. So, if you want to talk, we can have a quick conversation, but know I\u2019m clocking you. I didn\u2019t feel that it was genuine at all. He was just in it for the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tYou and Huda appear to be close friends. Were you surprised by her reaction when you kissed Jeremiah during the baseball challenge?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAmaya: <\/strong>I\u2019m not surprised because she\u2019s just a very passionate girl who cares deeply about people that she\u2019s in a romantic relationship with, but also goes for her platonic friendships. I know she doesn\u2019t play about me. Looking back, that was her strong connection at the time, and they were very focused on each other, so I understand where she\u2019s coming from.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tWe have the reunion coming up. Is there any situation or person that you\u2019re looking forward to addressing at the reunion?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n

\n\tBryan:<\/strong> Zak. We\u2019ll be talking.<\/p>\n

\n\tAmaya:<\/strong> I would like to address Austin.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat do you want to address specifically?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAmaya:<\/strong> We never had that clear communication before he was eliminated, and I want to discuss the Stand On Business challenge. \u201cWhy wasn\u2019t he able to speak to me prior to that?\u201d I felt blindsided, especially now, seeing certain clips of the facial reactions he would give me and comments he would make to the guys about me that he never once said to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBryan:<\/strong> With Zak, it\u2019s very known I disagree with the shit he\u2019s saying.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat message do you hope that your journey sends to other women out there who have had similar experiences where people have tried to dim their light?\u00a0\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAmaya:<\/strong> Always stay true to yourself. Be yourself no matter what, because the right man, bond or whoever is going to find you. If they\u2019re not your cup of tea, don\u2019t drink it. If your light\u2019s too bright, wear some sunglasses and turn the other way. You are your own best friend. Do not let anyone ever destroy that self-love, because once you have it, it becomes incredibly powerful. And you become the powerful queen that you are.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cLove Island USA\u201d Season 7 winners Amaya Espinal and Bryan Arenales walked away as a new couple with…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":68704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[44587,44593,171,13020,173,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-68703","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-amaya-espinal","9":"tag-bryan-arenales","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-love-island-usa","12":"tag-tv","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114866132376885105","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}