Warning: This story has spoilers for Season 7 of “Love Island USA.”
This season of “Love Island USA” may be over, but romantic developments continue to unfold as the final four couples return stateside.
While Amaya Espinal and Bryan Arenales took home the crown as winners of this year’s dating competition, the three other couples who made it to the season finale — Nic Vansteenberghe and Olandria Carthen (better known as Nicolandria), Huda Mustafa and Chris Seeley and bombshells Pepe Garcia-Gonzalez and Iris Kendall — had their moments in the spotlight, too.
When it comes to Iris and Pepe’s story, the two made strong connections with other islanders who suddenly got dumped from the villa, before finding their way to each other.
Hannah Fields, who’d been coupled up with Pepe, was eliminated in Episode 18 after the girls on the island voted to send her home.
Then, TJ Palma, who shared a connection with Iris in the villa, was eliminated in Episode 27 after being one of the men with the fewest votes from America, and only two islanders were willing to stand up for him, including Iris.
In Episode 30, Iris chose to recouple with Pepe after they formed a new connection.
In a Q&A with TODAY.com, the pair chatted via Zoom to reveal the latest on their relationship status, what life was really like in the villa, what they missed about home and the latest with their previous connections TJ and Hannah.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
During your time in the villa, what did you miss the most about home?
Iris: I missed the food. I missed In-N-Out. I missed just listening to music, to be honest. We can’t listen to music all the time because we’re mic’d up, so I felt like I just missed having my AirPods and driving. Little things like that were things that I definitely was thinking about a lot.
Pepe: Definitely my dog, but I’ve got to also say family and friends because, if not, they’ll be mad. The little things, like driving, listening to music and just walks on the beach. The small things that you take for granted and you’re like, “God, I hate being in traffic for an hour and a half, driving and listening to music.” But when I was (at the villa), I was like, “I’m excited to be in traffic.”
Were there low points or times on “Love Island USA” when it was a lot harder than you thought it was going to be?
Pepe: For sure, for sure. (There weren’t) a lot of low points, but … for anybody that’s done reality TV, or anything that is produced or where’s there’s a schedule and you’re kind of just going through things — anything that has to be recorded like that, my respect went up for them insanely. Because I never thought it was this hard, but it is a lot harder than you could ever imagine.
Iris: Yes, it is. I feel like it takes a lot. It takes a toll on your mind and body. But I feel like our experience at the villa … we made the best (of it) and we had so much fun being there and meeting everybody and having a great summer.
Pepe: Unique, fun, but hard.
Are there any moments America didn’t see that could have been a game-changer in the outcome of “Love Island USA”?
Iris: I haven’t seen any of the episodes, so I haven’t been able to really see what has not been shown or what’s being portrayed. But I feel like I need to honestly watch it to be able to answer that.
Pepe: I haven’t been able to watch the episodes. I’ve just been with family and taking care of things now (that I’m) outside of it. Think a lot of the things were happening off emotions, inside and outside, which is normal. You grow an attachment to people and you grow a love for certain people. But it is part of it … I don’t think any of us could really be mad at what happened in there. I think we’re all just happy to have been able to enjoy the experience.
If you had to put a label on your relationship now, outside of the villa, what would it be?
Pepe: I think at this point, everybody kind of knows we’re together, obviously. They know it’s very different than normal relationships … it’s just, continue to be with each other and focus on each other and just make sure that we can see this through.
The villa was great. I kept saying it was the best week of my villa experience for sure. And now there’s a lot of of ups and downs outside of the world. So, just play them out together and, honestly, just be there for each other no matter what. We were like that in the villa, so there’s no reason to change that out here.
Iris: And see what we’re like without microphones and cameras and everything. We haven’t been back home for that long, but the times that we have been together, I feel like we’re really having fun.
Pepe: We’re just enjoying it.
How do you feel about your respective previous connections with TJ and Hannah?
Iris: TJ is such an amazing guy. I’ve had a really strong connection with him and I think that he is the sweetest and he’s everything. But, the whole time I was in the villa, I was just thinking, “I don’t want him to think I just moved on really quickly.” I needed to have some closure with him for sure. That was definitely going through my mind. And the minute I got out (of the villa), I was like, “We should talk.” And we got the closure that we needed and we’re great.
Pepe: Same response. I think a lot of things end very quickly, right? So you should take the time and get that closure outside of this. You don’t want feeling to be hurt, not inside, not outside. So, now that we’re outside, you want to make sure that everybody’s understanding and happy and that you can move on together.
This season of “Love Island USA” has broken records in terms of viewership. How does it feel to come home a celebrity?
Iris: I feel so much love and I actually can’t believe it. I’m definitely overwhelmed because I’m not used to it, but I feel really loved and really grateful and am glad people are seeing the connection that we have and they’re enjoying it and seeing it for what it truly is. And that makes me happy.
Pepe: Definitely. I think I can speak for all of us. We all feel loved because we didn’t know what was happening. We went in there with no concept of what was going to happen, just going into this crazy experience to see what happens. And coming out knowing that we’re all loved, we’re all appreciated. We all have a have a huge support system, you know? Especially how it went down with America getting to vote a lot. We both came in the top four at one point. You just feel loved. That’s crazy.
Speaking of voting, is there anything you think America got wrong this season?
Pepe: I think that a lot of things were done off emotion and it’s just what it is. I mean, we did a lot of things off emotion in the villa, and you saw a lot of reactions off just straight emotion as well. It’s tough. You grow these attachments with people and you want things to play out the way you want them to play out.
I think a phrase that I kept saying in the villa that I learned in the villa is just “Let things ride the wave. Let it ride out.” You never know what’s going to happen. So, I don’t think anything was ever wrong. I think everything happened for a reason and it led to what it led to.
