The “Love Island USA” season 7 reunion aired Monday, Aug. 26. Here’s what you should know.
Following 37 hour-long episodes of enthralling text messages, juicy challenges and messy re-couplings, season seven’s cast reappeared in New York City to come together and discuss the most anticipated questions following the season’s finale.
While season six ended with the top four couples spending their final moments on arranged dates, hopelessly in love, season seven definitely didn’t follow that narrative. Season seven’s finalists included Iris Kendall and Jose ‘Pepe’ Garcia-Gonzalez, Huda Mustafa and Chris Seeley, runners-up Nicolas Vansteenberghe and Olandria Carthen, and season seven winners Amaya ‘Papaya’ Espinal and Bryan Arenales.
Season seven’s finale was definitely unusual, as one of the final couples, Mustafa and Seeley, broke up in their last date of the show. However, their placement as the third-best couple, above Kendall and Garcia-Gonzalez, made fans pause. Was this really a show about love, or a popularity contest?
Hosted by Ariana Madix and Andy Cohen, the pair asked the previous islanders some highly anticipated questions regarding their time in the villa and their lives outside of it.
Mustafa, last seen with a new partner, Louis Russell, at the “Weapons” world premiere, was asked about her new relationship outside the villa. Her shocking answer that she was unable to discuss her relationship due to an agreement with Netflix left Cohen stunned, as photos of Mustafa and her new man have been seen all over the internet.
Taylor Williams finally addressed his feelings within the villa after choosing Clarke Carraway over Carthen in a coupling ceremony. His famous words, “I pick Clarke,” blew up on the internet as a meme. But beyond the humorous quote, Williams revealed that he was very torn about his decision between the two women. He later stated he felt he owed Carthen an apology about the situation and apologized on air.
One popular topic that had circulated as “Love Island USA” episodes were airing was whether Ace Greene and Chelley Bissainthe had actually known each other previously, and if their coupling was pre-planned. After being asked about this conspiracy, Greene and Bissainthe finally cleared the air, discussing their initial meeting outside a New York club.
After exchanging social media accounts, Greene stated he will always show love and support to people he follows on social media, addressing the receipts of Greene liking and commenting on Bissainthe’s posts before entering the villa. The couple has made appearances together outside the villa on multiple occasions, meeting fans at Disneyland. Later, they later shared with Madix and Cohen that while they may not be official yet, Greene is in love with Bissainthe.
Season six’s reunion had its humorous moments spaced between the chaos of the islanders arguing back and forth, such as winner Kordell Beckham falling asleep amid heavy conversations. This time around, Zak Srakaew, a Casa Amor bombshell who briefly coupled up with Espinal, made an appearance on a Zoom call and was seen lying across a couch, asleep after he defended accusations from Arenales that he was only with Espinal for popularity.
A crowd favorite, Austin Shepard, had the islanders laughing the most as he zoned out and gave poor answers to co-host Cohen. Shepard and Jaden Duggar, a Casa Amor bombshell, were seen exiting the villa together in a strong re-coupling.
But an introduction to the outside world shocked Duggar and fans. Duggar mentioned how she had previously reached out to Shepard, telling him that she didn’t mind if he saw other girls, but to at least let her know. However, she claimed Shepard disregarded her texts and left her in the dark, bringing unresolved tension to the room.
Safe to say, season seven’s reunion addressed viewers’ unanswered questions and revealed shake-ups following the finale.