Missing your near-daily dose of life at the villa? Well, your favorite Islanders are back for the Love Island USA Season 7 reunion, airing tonight on Peacock.
Hosted by Andy Cohen and Ariana Madix, the juicy tell-all special will feature the final four couples — Huda Mustafa and Chris Seeley, Olandria Carthen and Nic Vansteenberghe, Iris Kendall and Pepe Garcia-Gonzalez, and Season 7 winners Amaya Espinal and Bryan Arenales — as well as contestants Chelley Bissainthe, Ace Greene, Taylor Williams, Clarke Carraway, Jeremiah Brown, Austin Shepard, Bell-A Walker, Charlie Georgio, Hannah Fields, Andreina Santos, TJ Palma, Gracyn Blackmore, Jaden Dugger, Vanna Einerson and Coco Watson.
If last week’s promo video tells us anything, it’s that we’re in for some biting call-outs and tearful revelations, as the reunion marks the culmination of over a month of mounting tension between several cast members.
Since the finale aired on July 13, the Love Island Season 7 cast has maintained its hold on fans through a viral Call Her Daddy interview and a candid sit-down with Keke Palmer, as well as a series of impromptu TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram Lives.
Ahead of tonight’s reunion, we’re breaking down where things stand with three of the most buzzed-about couples and friendships within the Love Island USA fandom.
Where do Amaya and Bryan stand?
Amaya Espinal and Bryan Arenales. (Ben Symons/Peacock)
Season 7 winners Amaya Espinal and Bryan Arenales may be broken up already. After emerging victorious from the villa and graciously splitting the $100,000 cash prize, the beloved couple seemed elated to continue exploring their relationship in the real world.
Arenales, in an interview with Today.com following the finale, reiterated how serious he was about Espinal.
“Honestly, I’m so happy to be here with her. Trust me, it’s real,” he said.
But ahead of tonight’s reunion, it seems Espinal and Arenales have unfollowed each other on Instagram, prompting speculation that they’ve broken up.
Rumors that they’d called it quits first emerged after Arenales was allegedly seen with another woman at a nightclub, days after the duo left the villa as a couple. The pair quickly debunked breakup rumors by posting a sweet TikTok video together on Arenales’s account.
Arenales, as seen in the promo, seems to address his “lapse in judgment” on the night of the “alleged cheating” during tonight’s reunion.
Fans began rooting for Espinal and Arenales as a potential pair after Arenales stood up for Espinal during the “Stand On Business” challenge on Episode 27. While other contestants were ganging up on Espinal for speaking too affectionately too soon, Arenales chimed in and defended her, explaining that her behavior is common in Hispanic households.
What’s going on with Huda, Olandria and Chelley?
From left: Olandria Carthen, Chelley Bissainthe and Huda Mustafa. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Ben Symons/Peacock)
It’s true, the girls have been fighting. Perhaps the most enduring drama among this season’s contestants is between Huda Mustafa, Olandria Carthen and Chelley Bissainthe, who’ve alluded to their supposed rift while doing post-villa press.
The drama seemed to really kick off in mid-July, when Mustafa went on Alex Cooper’s podcast, Call Her Daddy, to detail her tumultuous upbringing and offer context to what audiences saw on the show. The fitness influencer was a polarizing character this season, recognized for her many crash-outs and, at times, questionable behavior. It was during this interview that Mustafa expressed her intention to get to know many of the men in the villa, including Greene and Seeley, who both had connections with Bissainthe.
“I think that a lot of people were just talking to Chelley, and there were things that were said that weren’t said,” Mustafa said on Call Her Daddy. “You’re dragging shit and you’re making things seem otherwise. … Now everyone is ganging up on my ass, and all you could’ve done is have a conversation with me.”
Carthen and Bissainthe, who were best friends on the show, allegedly unfollowed Mustafa on Instagram after the Call Her Daddy interview was released.
In a separate interview with Entertainment Tonight, also from July, Mustafa cryptically addressed the fact that she was bullied in the villa by other contestants. She didn’t explicitly call anyone out, though fans think she may have been referring to Carthen and Bissainthe.
“I really 100% thought that I was being bullied in the villa,” Mustafa said. “And then, like, coming out of the villa and seeing that I wasn’t crazy. … When I felt like someone was looking at me and making fun of me, I was right. When I felt like someone was talking about me, I was right. … I should’ve just trusted my intuition.”
The promo for tonight’s reunion shows Bissainthe and Carthen addressing Mustafa directly. Carthen appears to get emotional, expressing how hurt she felt by what Mustafa said in the press.
“It’s like I’ve seen two different people. You were saying things like, ‘Oh, I want you to meet my daughter,’ etcetera. I was excited for those moments. But then when we get out, it’s like a complete switch,” Bissainthe says in the promo clip.
Adds Carthen, “That shit hurt, bro. It was really cold.”
The tension between the three women also seemed palpable in the recent Vanity Fair and Teen Vogue segments they did with other Season 7 castmates.
“The tension is so thick you can literally cut it with a knife,” one fan commented on the Vanity Fair video, while another said of the Teen Vogue video, “Chile this tension. I had to cover my eyes.”
Are Iris and Pepe still a thing?
Iris Kendall and Pepe Garcia-Gonzalez. (Ben Symons/Peacock)
Despite emerging as one of the season’s most unexpected but beloved couples, it seems Iris Kendall and Pepe Garcia Gonzalez may have called it quits already. The truth remains to be seen, though fans have an inkling that the former professional basketball player may have cheated on the sun-kissed spray tan artist.
The speculation came after fans noticed that the couple had supposedly unfollowed each other on Instagram over the weekend. Their frequent appearances on each other’s Instagram Stories also appear to have stopped, further bolstering speculation that they’ve broken up.
While neither has explicitly commented on the news, fans clocked Kendall’s song choice on a recent Instagram Story and have taken it as a sign that they’re officially over. Over the weekend, Kendall posted a photo of a sunset, soundtracked to Fleetwood Mac’s “Silver Springs.” The song, which Stevie Nicks penned about the turbulent demise of her relationship with ex-boyfriend and bandmate Lindsey Buckingham, has become somewhat of a breakup anthem on TikTok.
Kendall’s last appearance on Garcia-Gonzalez’s Instagram grid was 10 days ago, when he posted a video answering whether or not they like each other.