As “Love Island USA” headed into its fourth week, fan-favorite Hannah Fields was dumped from the island, despite having what many considered to be the strongest connection in the villa with Pepe.
It was a twist few viewers saw coming, and as she exited the villa, a few burning questions for her remained. In an exclusive interview with TODAY.com, she comes with some answers.
Charlie or Pepe? Where Hannah’s Heart Lies
The end of Hannah’s journey on “Love Island USA” was a choice made by her fellow islanders. During Sunday’s episode, the islanders were informed that America had been voting on their favorite guys and girls, as individuals. When the bottom three guys and bottom the girls were revealed, the rest of the villa had to choose two people — a guy and a girl — to dump. The girls eliminated Hannah, and the guys nixed Jeremiah.
To many viewers, the islanders’ selections were shocking moves. Jeremiah had been coming out of his shell after finding resolution in his hectic breakup with Huda. As for Hannah, she had just witnessed her first connection, Charlie, exit the villa in the same way and was finding a bit of happiness with a new guy, Pepe.
Following her elimination, a pressing question remained: Does Hannah’s heart lie with Pepe … or with Charlie?
“My heart is waiting for Pepe to get out of that villa,” she tells TODAY.com. “I’ve just been waiting and waiting to see if that’s going to go anywhere. We had a really good talk before I left, and I’ve just really been missing him.
“I don’t know what’s going to come from this, and I don’t know where his heart lies. I just know how I feel.”
Hannah also acknowledges her complicated feelings about Charlie, too: “I think with Charlie as well, I don’t know where his heart lies now. Obviously a lot has happened since he’s left, and that can’t be easy to witness.”
For now, she’s acknowledges that the “real world” is much different than the villa, where around-the-clock proximity plays a big role.
She adds, “I think it’s a waiting game to see where everything lies out and what really aligns for us, and see if we really work outside of the villa.”
Did Hannah Hope Pepe Would Leave With Her?
Feelings are always heightened immediately following dumpings, and Hannah’s was no exception. Was there any part of Hannah that thought Pepe might feel strongly enough to leave with her?
“He had kind of mentioned it, but I just don’t really think that it was an option,” Hannah says. “Even when Charlie left, I had thought about leaving. I think I had told Iris, ‘I think I’m going to go,’ but I just don’t think it was an actual option to leave. I don’t really know exactly. Maybe it is.”
Despite her disappointment in leaving her connection behind in Fiji, Hannah holds no grudges against Pepe for staying.
“I kind of had told him, ‘Don’t ruin your experience.’ I wanted him to have the best experience, and I don’t hold it against him for not leaving at all, definitely. But you know I wish that he could have.”
Who Does Hannah See Winning ‘Love Island USA’?
Despite the girls choosing to send her home, Hannah maintains that they will remain close.
“I think our sisterhood is really, really strong,” Hanna tells TODAY.com. “I think obviously there were moments where we’d have little, you know, back-and-forth arguments — but honestly not really. There were only a couple notable ones and we really bounced back super fast from that.”
She mentions Huda, who had pursued Pepe briefly without being upfront with Hannah about it.
“I did have that falling out with Huda and we never really resolved that,” she says. “I think that’s something that would need to be resolved post-villa, but I’m not closing myself off to any of them.”
Drama aside, Hannah maintains hope for her villa friendships and even has someone she’s rooting to win.
“Even though she hurt my feelings, I really hope that Cierra, either with Nic or this new connection with Elan, I hope that she really gets her man,” Hannah says. “I think she’s really deserving, and I think that she’s somebody who really was there for the true reason of finding a partner.”
As for watching the rest of the season? “Oh, yes I will, absolutely. Even if I wasn’t on the show, I would’ve watched the show the whole time.”
About The Author
