An intense competition had the world hooked to their screens this summer, watching Love Island USA season seven. The show broke records with over 18.4 billion minutes of viewing time and claimed the number one spot on streaming charts. This year’s iconic cast set out for New York City for the season seven reunion, prepared to silence all rumors and speak their minds.
Original islanders, Jeremiah Brown and Allen “Ace” Greene, had unspoken drama while in Fiji. At the reunion, Greene vocalized his dislike of Brown and Huda Mustafa’s connection, pinning the collapse of their relationship on love bombing. Fans deemed him the ‘ring-leader’ of the villa, causing Brown to be dumped from the island. At the reunion, Greene claims that he was always “vocal, but in these vocal moments everyone had something to say,” defending his character.
Hannah “Banana” Fields and Amaya “Papaya” Espinal made their mark in the villa as bombshell sisters. Espinal and her partner, Brian Arenales, would go on to win Love Island season seven, yet Fields would be left in the dust.
Following the villa, a video of Arenales partying with many women surfaced on the internet, causing fans to grow skeptical about his connection with Espinal. However, at the reunion, all the accusations were debunked, and the couple clarified their happy relationship status.
On the other hand, Fields grew an immediate connection with Charlie Georgio from the moment she laid eyes on him. The two coupled up on day six in the villa after a series of challenges, conversations, and intimate moments. However, after being voted off, Georgio exited the villa, leaving Fields in tears. Despite the stirred-up emotions, Fields quickly bounced back and formed a connection with Jose “Pepe” Garcia before being voted off.
Field’s immediate recovery struck confusion in Georgio; however, after a month of post-show reflection, Georgio cleared up any controversy surrounding their love triangle. At the reunion, he expresses, “I don’t hold any negativity towards you [Fields] about moving on with Pepe.”
Fields left the Villa single, while Garcia made it to the finale alongside bombshell Iris Kendall. Despite the couple’s success in the villa, fans speculate that Garcia and Kendall are no longer together, following cheating rumors that have been spread across social media.
Michelle “Chelley” Bissainthe, Mustafa, and Olandria Carthen were the first girls to arrive at the Villa, something that the audience found endearing. It seemed almost like fate that these islanders would have an everlasting friendship.
That, however, was not the case. When Mustafa entered the Villa, she was immediately loved by the audience, being compared to one of the most admired contestants from last year‘s season, Leah Kateb.
Pembroke Pines Charter High School senior Kaylee Suyama expresses, “I felt like Huda was clocking everyone. She was standing on business when Chelley was talking to her [at the reunion]. [On another note] I feel like everyone was trying to stay unproblematic, so people were scared to say what they [really] thought.”
Similar to Kateb, Mustafa gained an immense amount of Instagram followers. With this level of popularity comes an obsessive fanbase. The following has led to hate toward fellow contestants Bissainthe and Carthen after some of the audience dubbed them “bullies” and “mean girls” after the “Heart Rate Challenge.”
They both became subject to racism and misogynistic views; the most notable one would be Carthen’s head being edited onto George Floyd’s body. During the reunions, this was addressed, with Carthen stating how mentally challenging all the hate both she and Bissainthe were receiving was.
Sophomore Carla Duran states, “I completely hate the ‘mean girls’ accusations, and the hate toward Chelley and Olandria is completely unwarranted. Personally, I think they did nothing wrong.”
Carthen also mentioned how she brought up the situation to Mustafa before even leaving Fiji, requesting that Mustafa make a post telling her fans to essentially back off, which she never did.
Mustafa left the topic off by saying, “Not everyone’s meant to be friends.”
This reunion has left many questions burning for the islanders and viewers alike. Answered or not, the journey for friendship, fame, and everlasting love is yet to be done, leaving audiences eager for the next season.
