Many eventful weeks after leaving the villa, the Islanders have finally been reunited in person. Peacock’s Love Island USA season 7 reunion, which was filmed in New York City, aired on Monday night with the show's stars glammed up and ready to unpack the drama from their summer in Fiji.
In the days leading up to the reunion, social media Peacock released a trailer teasing that the contestants were finally ready to “stand on business” when it came to the chaos, rumors, and speculations that ensued during and after their most-watched season yet.
Now, whether the two-hour-long (!!!) special answered all of our burning questions is definitely up for debate — but there’s no denying that the Islanders still kept it real on stage; they hashed out misunderstandings in and out of the villa through tears and heated discussions.
The biggest bombshells (no pun intended) of the night involved quite a few burning topics: Did Bryan cheat on Amaya? Where does Huda stand with her former flames and closest friends from the show? Why did the Islanders vote to dump Hannah and Jeremiah from the villa? What really happened during the now-infamous Heart Rate Challenge?
In case you missed the movie-length, Andy Cohen and Ariana Madix co-hosted reunion, we gathered the most important reveals on all of the closure, confrontations, and shocking twists that fans have been waiting for. Below, catch up on major moments from the Love Island USA season 7 reunion, including what actually went down in Fiji, where the islanders stand with each other, and more.
So… who is still together?!
Just because Love Island is over, doesn’t mean their stories are. The Love Island USA couples who left Fiji together were winners Amaya and Bryan, runners-up Olandria and Nic, fourth-place finishers Iris and Pepe, and non-finalists Chelley and Ace and Taylor and Clarke. At the time of filming the reunion, all couples were confirmed to still be dating (However, no one has confirmed to be 100% committed just yet.)
But just days before the reunion aired, social media was ablaze with yet another round of cheating rumors. In a major twist, Iris and Pepe, both bombshells who coupled up near the tail end of the show, hinted at their split after unfollowing each other on social media. At the same time, Amaya and Bryan, who made their relationship exclusive at the finale, also fueled breakup rumors after also unfollowing each other on Instagram. Neither couple has yet to publicly weigh in on their rumored breakups or decisions to unfollow each other’s social media.
A few Islanders were missing from the reunion…
A large majority of the Islanders — Casa Amor bombshells included — gathered at Monday night's reunion, but there were a few faces missing from those blue couches. Casa Amor’s Zak joined remotely from his home in Manchester, U.K., while Jalen, a bombshell from Spartan, Georgia who was briefly entangled with Olandria, opted not to attend. (In a recent interview, he shared he decided to “stray away from the drama.”)
Cierra, one of the season’s most prominent contestants, did not attend the reunion. It wasn’t confirmed whether Cierra was invited to attend the reunion in the first place, as she was allegedly removed from the show mid-season after racist social media posts from her past resurfaced.
However, Cierra addressed her own reasons for skipping the reunion in a four-part TikTok Q&A in July. Cierra, who was coupled with Nic up until her departure, said that her time on the show was “amazing in so many great ways.” She also shared that she feels “much lighter” knowing that her “perspective, thoughts and feelings” are out there, and that posting her apology videos was “the first step in moving on and closing this chapter” of her life.
No, Nic has not talked to Cierra since leaving Fiji.
And he doesn’t “plan on it, either.” When asked about Cierra, Nic explained that Cierra’s social media posts after exiting the villa deterred him from reaching out (Cierra made posts criticizing Nic for moving on with Olandria, her best friend in the villa, and claimed she was given the “villain edit” on the show). He also shared it felt like Cierra was “prioritizing some attention” rather than attempting to fix their relationship, “if there was anything to fix" at all.
Amaya and Bryan addressed those cheating allegations.
Amaya “Papaya” Espinal and Bryan Arenales, who made history as the franchise’s first Latinx winners, addressed rumors that Bryan was unfaithful to Amaya following the show. Weeks after winning the $100,000 prize, a video surfaced on social media of Bryan seemingly partying with other women. During the reunion, Bryan denied any and all cheating allegations.
“They’re trying to just throw any hate my way,” he said. “And within the cheating video, the hosting — I got paid to be there. I used to bartend back in the day. I had a lapse of judgment… and we talked about it.”
Amaya stood by Bryan, reiterating that she wouldn’t be sitting next to him if the rumors were true. “We definitely spoke about it,” she said. “I’m not a woman who would be with someone who doesn’t respect me. So, if I’m with him and still with him, it’s clearly because the relationship dynamic is healthy and great.”
The truth about why Hannah and Jeremiah were really dumped from the villa was revealed…
Islanders gave more context on their decisions to dump Hannah and Jeremiah from the villa — two contestants lucky enough to have struck a couple of connections during their time in Fiji. Unseen footage revealed that Chelley, Olandria, Cierra, and Huda decided to dump Hannah over Iris or Amaya — with Chelley emphasizing that their decision was based on giving Iris and Amaya another “fair” chance to make connections in the villa.
After the clip, Hannah teared up and asked for a “second” to compose herself. “It hurts. But I understand. It feels better to know [the explanation] now, because I think that’s what I struggled with a lot,” Hannah said. “I just felt that there were so many unanswered questions.” The other contestants jumped in to comfort Hannah. “It felt almost like a betrayal, to be honest,” Chelley said of their decision.
Jeremiah admitted to feeling hurt over how Ace “villainized him” leading up to his dumping. Ace doubled down on his claims about Jeremiah on the show, insisting he overheard Jeremiah discussing followers and prize money with other Islanders. Unseen clips from the deliberations between Ace, Nic, and Taylor revealed that Ace and Taylor were both on the same page about booting Jeremiah from the villa, while Nic was vocal about giving Jeremiah another chance, and that Austin should leave instead.
“[Seeing the footage] definitely makes me feel better,” Jeremiah said of Nic advocating for his stay. Co-hosts Madix and Cohen later revealed that even if the decisions to dump Hannah and Jeremiah were up to America, it wouldn’t have led to a different outcome, as viewers ranked the two at the bottom of the popularity votes that would’ve sent them packing anyway.
Apparently, Huda can’t disclose her current relationship status.
After attempting to make amends with her third-place partner Chris (who declared the two will “never be friends”), Huda refused to give an update on her current dating life — but it’s not for the reasons you’d think.
“I can’t speak about my relationships outside the villa,” she said of her relationship status. When asked by Madix to clarify her strangely vague response, Huda said, “Legal reasons… It’s Netflix. I’m not allowed to talk about it.” In case you’re out of the loop, Huda has been posting — and even posing on red carpets — with Netflix’s Perfect Match star Louis Russell — making her attempts to avoid the question peculiar, to say the least.
“Okay, tell Netflix this was the number 1 streaming show of the summer,” Cohen jokingly responded. Also seemingly in response to Huda’s comment, Netflix changed their bio on X to read, “DON’T @ ME IDK !!!”
The villa’s “sisterhood” is no longer.
The “sisterhood” that was adamantly pursued only hours into the villa seems to have vanished post-show. Huda was asked to elaborate on why she’s said in interviews that she felt “isolated” and “bullied” by the Islanders in the villa, to which she claimed that there was a clip of Cierra, Chelley, and Olandria on the couch joking about her that was “hurtful” for her to watch.
During the reunion, Chelley and Olandria responded that they were both under the impression that their relationship with Huda was fine — until she insinuated they were bullies. Huda said she’s “moved on” from the situation, and perhaps she should’ve chosen a different word than “bully” to reflect her experiences.
Olandria also revealed that she asked Huda to release a statement to her fans to “address the racism” and the “hate train” towards her and Chelley, which Huda did not do, despite apparently initially agreeing to. Huda’s explanation for why she didn’t release a public statement was that she, too, was “dealing with so much” and “racism” after leaving the villa.
Olandria then tearfully shared that it felt like Huda didn’t stand up for her. Olandria also revealed the extent of the racism she’s faced, which she says included seeing social media edits of her face on George Floyd’s body. Following Huda’s silence on the matter, Olandria and Chelley addressed the reasons why they unfollowed her, and both agreed that they can’t be friends with her.
“I love her to death, but that really was a turning point for me," Olandria said. “I wish you well from a distance,” Chelley added. “[But] that trust is broken… I wouldn’t feel like I could trust her as my friend.”
We finally saw an extended clip of the infamous Heart Rate Challenge.
An extended version of the controversial Heart Rate challenge was shown, revealing exactly what it was that Huda did to Ace that bothered Chelley. In the clip, Huda is seen dancing on Ace, so much so that other Islanders were left watching with mouths agape and calling it “soft core p*rn” during the challenge. “I think I took it a step too far,” Huda admitted. “I do apologize if I made anyone feel uncomfortable. Everything was consensual, there were no limitations, and we all made that very clear at the beginning of the challenge.”
After watching the clip, Chelley felt “justified” in her reaction, and explained that her betrayal was more about her “friendship and sisterhood” with Huda than consent. “When you do certain challenges, it’s with intention because you’re interested in a person. To my knowledge, you didn’t have any interest in Ace, so to go as far as that, me being your friend, I think my reasons were very justified.”
