America has spoken and now five Islanders have left the villa on Love Island USA — including an OG.
During the Sunday, June 29, episode of the dating show — which airs daily with the exception of Wednesdays — Ace Greene, Andreina Santos, Amaya Espinal, Austin Shepard, Bryan Arenales, Chelley Bissainthe, Cierra Ortega, Chris Seeley, Clarke Carraway, Elan Bibas, Gracyn Blackmore, Huda Mustafa, Iris Kendall, Jaden Duggar, Pepe Garcia, Nic Vansteenberghe, Olandria Carthen, TJ Palma, Taylor Williams and Zak Srakaew were all settling into their new coupling after Casa Amor.
Olandria and Elan were the only single Islanders as everyone else enjoyed having a partner in a villa. But several people including Chelley, Andreina and even Cierra were still committed to testing out other possible connections, which became easier with the introduction of the heart rate challenge.
The point of the challenge was for each couple to tease their fellow Islanders as a way to get their heart rates up and win the game. While it was meant to be done in good fun, Huda ended up in hot water when Chelley felt like her performance for Ace (complete with twerking and a very steamy makeout session) crossed a line.
Week 4 ultimately started with Chelley and Huda at odds while the rest of the villa chose sides as the rest of Us watched at home. (The islanders are halfway through their fifth week in Fiji but for the sake of its timeline, Us Weekly will be tracking the events based on when they air on Peacock.)
As the group prepare to have their connections — both romantic and platonic — tested even more, Us is keeping you up to date with live highlights so keep scrolling:
Friday, July 4
After sending five people home — or maybe in honor of Independence Day — Friday’s episode of Love Island USA chose to take it easy on US. The Islanders came to terms with what they now know America thinks of them while others prepared for moves they would make in the villa now that certain people were single again.
Pepe made a beeline for Iris, who was very interested in his advances. The same for Bryan and Amaya — with them ending the episode with a makeout session in the Speakeasy.
The recent events also reaffirmed Ace and Chelley’s connection as well as Taylor and Clarke’s despite them both being at the bottom. Nic and Cierra found time to talk about their feelings for each other as well after making the controversial choice to vote for Taylor to stay.
As for splits? Zak and Amaya are officially over after America’s Sweetheart admitted she was no longer interested romantically. Chelley, meanwhile, pulled Chris aside to let him know he shouldn’t pursue her anymore, which wasn’t really an issue since all his focus is on Huda.
The challenge this week was fun Crash Out inspired one that left everyone covered in pie and slime. All in all, good times were had ahead of another recoupling during the Islanders’ last week in the villa.
Thursday, July 3
Picking back up after the Stand on Business Challenge, Huda was on the outs with pretty much everyone. She even had to eat breakfast alone in the speakeasy before Olandria and Chelley pulled her aside for separate chats that seemed to clear the air.
Meanwhile Pepe had a more difficult conversation with Gracyn where he admitted he didn’t feel a spark for her. He said it wasn’t because of Hannah — but what else could it be about? The duo ended up essentially breaking things off.
Then there was Amaya and Zak, who didn’t seem to be heading to a better direction. America’s sweetheart did have a better conversation with Bryan, who was the only one defending her the night before.
Next came the challenge where each Islander found out what America thought of them. Some people in particular — Ace — thought they were about to find out how beloved they were only to be brought back down to reality.
When it came to the most genuine guy, that went to Pepe. Ace and Taylor, meanwhile, ranked least genuine. For the best boyfriend material, Pepe once again came out on top while Austin and Taylor were at the bottom.
The girls that were the most trustworthy had Amaya winning and Clarke losing. Those were the same results for the most and least genuine girl. Then came a couple ranking with Amaya and Zak being at the top and Clarke and Taylor at the bottom.
Finally, America’s ranking for the least favorite boys and girls was shared with the group. The guys at the bottom were TJ, Taylor and Austin while the girls at the bottom were Jaden, Gracyn Andreina. The villa could only save one person out of six — and they chose Taylor. He had the most people standing behind him by the end of the day and something tells Us … America will have opinions about that.
Tuesday, July 1
Before things got messy in the villa, Iris and TJ had a good night after they hooked up in Soul Ties. Cierra and Nic weren’t as considerate and made everyone in the room listen as they had sex after officially closing things off. There was also Amaya and Zak, who were at a crossroads after she felt like he wasn’t trying to stay with her at all.
Luckily, Love Island gave everyone the chance to “stand on business” by sending letters calling each other out — and offering them the chance to leave the messages anonymous.
Austin started first and received a note from Andreina about how it didn’t make sense that he made it this far since he didn’t give any girl any effort. Nic and Cierra only got some shade for their loud sex. But Cierra then had to answer for all the girls who sent Hannah home after Pepe expressed his displeasure with their decision.
Then there was Amaya, who got a funny note from Chris about her snoring before Austin, Ace and Zak all took turns saying she cries too much, moves too quick in relationships and generally isn’t their type. Somehow all the guys forgot that America is watching — and voting — as the internet’s favorite Amaya Papaya walked off in tears.
Pepe also got some hate mail when his feelings for Gracyn were questioned — by Gracyn. She wasn’t happy with how he was still so hung up on Hannah and it doesn’t seem like the couple figured that issue out.
Ace had to answer for why he wasn’t closed off with Chelley yet courtesy of Amaya and then he got into a fight with Austin over claims that his “clique” was controlling what took place in the villa.
Things got shady when Chelley read a note from Ace questioning the boundaries she put in place for him and not herself. She was also called out — by Huda — for her confusing relationship with Chris.
The worst of the worst, however, started when Nic told Huda she robbed Hannah of a chance at love because she stayed when she should have been sent home. Then Chelley piled on by calling Huda selfish and not a girl’s girl — only for Olandria to join in and drag Huda for kissing Chris. Huda defended herself by reminding everyone yet again that they are on a dating show where people should be kissing and exploring connections — the same thing they pressured her to do when she was locked in with Jeremiah.
Chris got some of the same hate when Cierra asked about his intentions toward Huda while Chelley called out his “switch-up” between her and Huda.
Olandria was up next and only had to answer to Clarke, who was still upset they were in a love triangle with Taylor. And finally it was time for Taylor to answer for his behavior toward Olandria. He decided to defend choosing Clarke after three days despite his three weeks with Olandria. After Olandria went off on how disrespectful he was toward her, Taylor finally made a decision between her and Clarke — and it wasn’t Olandria.
Monday, June 30
Despite being furious with Huda, Chelley chose not to speak with her about the issues that night. Instead, she asked that they reconvene in the morning but that didn’t actually result in a conversation. Huda was already feeling isolated by nearly everyone choosing Chelley’s side in the fight — and then Chris seemed to be showing more interest in Chelley as well.
That rubbed Ace the wrong way since he felt Chelley was being hypocritical, wondering why he wasn’t allowed to kiss Huda too much in a challenge but Chelley was allowed to keep her options open with Chris outside of the challenge. Several conversations about the situation took place between Ace and Chelley and they ended up more at odds than before.
Ace specifically questioned his future with Chelley causing him to question his previous desire to close things off with her. As for Chris, he found himself drifting more toward Huda, who was interested in him. Chris cited Chelley’s lack of interest in him as a reason why he wanted to leave that behind to explore only Huda.
Then there was Cierra and Nic, who got to enjoy a date out of the villa. After a candid conversation, the pair chose to close things off as Nic and Olandria fans got even more disillusioned. Speaking of Olandria, she decided to listen to Chelley and not completely write off Taylor despite him still being in a couple with Clarke.. But Olandria wanted to explore her options and that meant getting to know Zak again.
That came at the perfect time for Zak, who was catching heat from Amaya for not speaking to her but also not trying to connect with other women. As Zak’s intentions were called into question, Elan chose that as his opening to get to know Amaya since Cierra was no longer an option.
The sneak peek for the next episode revealed that each Islander will be sending some mail — and if that doesn’t scream messy, we don’t know what does
Peacock’s Love Island has way more behind-the-scenes revelations — and production secrets — than some fans may realize. Love Island, which premiered in the U.K. in 2002, follows a different group of singles every season who have to pair off in order to stay in the show’s luxury villa. The franchise has since expanded worldwide […]
Sunday, June 29
The new week started off with Olandria and Elan being saved while the other Islanders — mainly Taylor and Cierra — adjusted to past connections sticking around. Cierra and Nic initially used their reunion to pledge their commitment to each other (and even had sex again but for 40 whole seconds this time).
But Cierra’s positive response to Nic’s time in the villa with Olandria soured after a chat with Iris. Cierra was upset that her best friend kissed Nic after she knew they already had sex. She was also not thrilled with Nic for being upset that she was still willing to give Elan a chance to win her over.
Elsewhere in the villa, Chris was still interested in Chelley despite his bond with Huda. He made an attempt to get to know her more while keeping Ace in the loop about her interest in exploring both connections. Ace, however, made it clear he did not lose. For those at home still questioning whether Ace is self-producing the season … do with that what you will.
Ace later had a conversation with Taylor, who claimed he would still be willing to explore a future with Olandria after embarrassing her by choosing Clarke. It was unclear why Taylor thought he was still an option Olandria was interested in, but good for him?
This is when things got interesting, as the Islanders prepared for their heart rate challenge. The scores at the end of the night revealed that Iris’ heart rate was raised the most by Nic, and Amaya’s by Pepe, Andreina’s by Pepe, Jaden’s by Nic, Chelley’s by Chris, Huda’s by Elan, Gracyn’s by Nic, Cierra’s by Elan, Olandria’s by Chris (despite Nic’s attempts with the obscene performance) and Clarke’s by Ace.
As for the guys, TJ’s heart rate was raised the most by Gracyn, Zak’s by Cierra, Bryan’s by Cierra, Austin’s by Amaya, Chris’ by Chelley, Pepe’s by Andreina, Nic’s by Iris, Elan’s by Cierra, Taylor’s by Olandria and Ace’s by Huda.
That last one was a problem for the villa as Chelley made it clear she was not happy with Huda putting on a special performance for Nic (while she got one from Chris). Chris was already done with Chelley when Huda was still making out with Ace and bouncing on him. While Huda got some support from the other girls, most of the villa stood by Chelley, who said her friend took it too far — especially after how possessive she was with ex Jeremiah Brown.
New episodes of Love Island USA stream on Peacock daily at 9 p.m. ET. Us Weekly will be updating this post with the biggest developments.
