If you were too employed to spend over an hour of your week nights watching Love Island USA, don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. This week was nonstop drama, as usual, and some fans are already claiming that this week was messier than all of season six. I tried to keep count of Huda Mustafa’s crash outs, but somewhere around Monday night, I gave up. If that’s not a glowing endorsement of this week’s standout reality television at its most unhinged, just keep reading.
On Thursday, our week starts off calm and relaxed—which, ironically enough, feels a bit unsettling when you’re watching Love Island. The islanders debrief after the Pucker or Pie challenge, and by the next morning—the calm before the storm that is week two—we receive one of the funniest and most clipped interactions so far this season: Huda telling Nic Vansteenberghe she’s a mother. His response? Two words. “Mommy? Mamacita.” Of course, it plays even better in real time—the clip’s already well on its way to TikTok infamy.
At first it seems as though Huda’s intentions are pure—offering Jeremiah Brown what looks like a gesture of trust, maybe even a deeper emotional anchor in her confidence. But the topic of her child resurfaces only briefly, once or twice, before vanishing from their conversations entirely. The cracks begin to show.
Speaking of cracks: Pancakegate. Huda and Jeremiah’s first shining breakout argument no thanks to infidelity or betrayal—but an undercooked pancake at breakfast. Before we get into #Pancakegate2025 and the nitty gritty details, let’s rewind.
On Thursday night, the islanders played a freaky game of Dominate Tricks (inventive reality–TV euphemism alert) where each girl gets to dip a toe into BDSM on national television. Obviously a game like this calls for new bombshells, and we get three: Pepe Garcia, Jalen Noble, and Iris Kendall. Naturally, watching a stranger kiss the person you’ve been sharing a bed and swapping saliva with for the past week would make anyone a little jealous. Huda, though, takes her jealousy to the next level with a handcuffed backbend over a giant X–shaped restraint board. She’s tied there to watch Jeremiah share a kiss with Iris, and chooses to introduce herself to the new bombshell with some choice words. “Bitch, if you don’t fucking quit it right now.” How sweet, Huda!
The next morning, Huda is jealous and on the prowl, looking for a fight with Jeremiah over just about anything. He cooks her breakfast, which is LIUSA standard, and to her surprise, the insides are practically raw. Pissed, Huda now has to make her own breakfast and employs Taylor Williams to help as if she doesn’t have a four year old whom I assume she cooks for almost daily. The bacon is still sizzling when she tells Jeremiah, reiterating her frustration that morning and claiming he should’ve stepped in to help her, not Taylor.
Other than an irrational fight over pancakes, Friday’s episode highlights the new bombshells—and boy are they bombshelling. Jalen and Pepe catch the collective eyes of Hannah Fields, Cierra Ortega, Amaya Espinal, and Olandria Carthen; while Iris pulls glances from Ace Greene, Nic, and Jeremiah. Typically, a bombshell enters the villa and connects with one or two islanders. But this week, all three ignited several sparks, setting the stage for what will probably make an unpredictable next week of episodes. After Friday’s eventful installment, the producers held the show first–ever public vote, but the stakes are different than usual. We’re not choosing our favorite or least favorite couples, or who we’d like to see leave the villa, but who each new bombshell should couple up with. Yeah. America’s Cupid picks the pairings—the results are directly reflected in Sunday night’s recoupling.
Before then, the islanders play another game. Got Wood? features few surprises—couples kissing couples, bumping and grinding, and a few risque questions. I did feel for our girl Olandria though, kissed by four of seven eligible guys over the course of the game. Nicolandria fans had to be pleased—catching a few crumbs from their steamy cabin makeout sesh.
Some of the messiest moments of the week recap from the recoupling. Bombshells Jalen and Pepe are voted to pair in couples with Olandria and Hannah, respectively, which isn’t too much of a stretch. Ariana Madix makes waves, however, when she announces that viewers voted to couple Iris with Jeremiah. Now that Huda, Taylor, and Charlie Georgiou are single, the drama really begins. Madix reveals that each islander remaining in their original couple must vote for who they want to vote out of the villa, and there’s not a dry eye at the firepit—except for Ace, who is finding this whole thing wildly entertaining. It’s hysterical. Amaya screeches “No! We don’t wanna do that!” at the prospect of voting someone off, Hannah practically dry–heaves over the thought of Charlie going home just after they’d had a meaningful conversation, and Charlie states his case like he’s on Big Brother (wrong franchise, mate). After lots and lots of crying from islanders and viewers alike, Charlie leaves the villa with three votes.
The next two days are spent fixating on the fallout between Huda and Jeremiah—so much so that Hannah, in her reflexive genius, coins the term “Hurricane Huda.” The next two days are a drag for all of the islanders—if not talking with Huda or Jeremiah about the state of their relationship, they were talking about them. As a viewer, it’s exhausting, and Monday and Tuesdays episodes all seemed to mesh into one dull, overworked mess of Hudamiah. Even contestants complained at the back–and–forth.
We did get some glimpses of other affairs, like Nic and Cierra’s chat, where she asks if he believes in evolution, and naturally they end up in a long, meandering “deep” conversation on hippos and monkeys. There’s also a potential spark between Amaya and Austin after days of his complaints for the love triangle between Chelley Bissainthe, Ace, and himself.
To end week two of LIUSA, there is one final recoupling. Each girl stands behind a door and texts the producers the name of the guy she would open it for. Then, one by one, each boy stands in front of the door of the girl they’d like to couple up with. If the door opens to reveal her pick, they’re a couple. If it doesn’t—that boy is single.
Like in every recoupling, there are a few no–brainer pairings, like Nic and Cierra, and Pepe and Hannah, but the rest shook out with some intriguing solutions to the love polygons unfolding in the villa: Chelley has finally picked Ace, and Olandria chooses Taylor over Jalen. The last boy to choose is Jeremiah. He teeters between Huda and Iris’s door, finally landing on Iris. It opens. Huda is crushed.
After Huda takes a moment to bash Jeremiah and humiliate Iris once again, she and Jalen are the only two islanders left single. Now, each islander must stand behind the person they want to save from a dumping. In a sweeping majority, Huda is chosen to be saved, which comes as quite the shock considering how much everyone has been burned out on her dramatics. Even Iris opts to save her over Jalen, although Jeremiah does not.
After three bombshells and two recouplings, we end week two with six new couples. Chelley and Ace, Olandria and Taylor, Cierra and NIc, Amaya and Austin, Hannah and Pepe, & Iris and Jeremiah. Huda, fittingly, is still single and still vulnerable. Hopefully after a week of hurricane Huda, we will reach the eye of the storm and finally get some peace. But who really knows? It is Love Island.
