We opened last Thursday to a peaceful, quiet villa. Not a frown in sight. Couples galore, all madly in love with each other. Well, except for Sol and Caleb, who just poured their hearts out only for them to get stomped on and pity–coupled by Ariana. Other than that, though, everything seems to be going swimmingly. Melanie and Sincere and Kenzie and Corbin have reunited; Aniya and KC have seemingly squashed their beef after reading each other’s love letters; and Bryce and Zach are still pretending to be happy with Trinity and Kayda, though we all really know they’re longing for each other.
In the morning, Sol lets Sincere know that she isn’t a force to be reckoned with. Mr. (In–)Sincere attempts to explain his decision to Sol after breakfast, but she wants no part of his apology—or him at all. After a day of apologies and rekindling between couples, Ariana returns for a second day in a row, which never means anything good—for the islanders, at least. The queen of Love Island USA has arrived, and she’s here to announce which couples landed last place in America’s hearts. Our usual suspects are out of contention; Bryce and Trinity, KC and Aniya, Zach and Kayda, and Sincere and Melanie are all in the top four, leaving Gabriel and Jen, Corbin and Kenzie, and Caleb and Sol at the bottom as America’s least favorites.
With all six islanders standing before the firepit, the rest of the group has some tough decisions to make. The girls will choose one boy to dump from the villa, while the boys choose one girl to boot as well. The boys ultimately land on Sol to dump, and who better to share the news than her new ex–fling Sincere? As for the girls, Melanie reveals they’ve decided to dump Gabriel because they feel he’s too lustful, always looking for the next bombshell to come in. For some reason, though, this rationale really sets the other boys off, causing a level of chaos close to what we saw in a similar dumping in Season 6. It was the first time this season that felt like what Love Island truly is: a mess. And not just a mess made by green goop and sweaty kisses, but an emotionally vulnerable, bros crying for their bros, all out mess. In the aftermath of the dumping, we begin to see the first real cracks in Zach and Kayda’s relationship. His comment about not making the girls breakfast because of their bad behavior is what set her off, but not the comment he made just days prior about turning his head for a bombshell after a night in The Hideaway. Nobody really seems to care about how newly single Jen and Caleb are feeling though.
After a bit of a tiff between most of the couples, there’s another challenge that leaves most viewers, including myself, pretty uneasy. This time, things are a bit shaken up, and the boys get covered in a blue mysterious slime, instead of the traditional neon green. It goes like all challenges do: good, shady question, then a kiss in front of everyone. Before the kiss, though, something new happens—each boy goes down the row of girls and gives their feet a kiss, before fitting a slipper on their princess. I’ll spare you the details, but trust me, it’s a lot of feet, and way too much tongue.
On Sunday, islanders gear up for a fan favorite: the hearts on fire challenge. Typically, this happens much later in the season, but this year, the Love Island gods have brought us an Episode 17 gift. Of course, it comes with another twist. As the girls choose their costumes and get ready to dance all over their men, the boys receive a text to pack their things and get ready to head to Casa Amor, a one week excursion from the villa with six new ladies.
As the girls head down from the dressing room, they are greeted not by the boys, but by a huge gift box in front of the firepit. In their confusion, the front of the box falls and unveils their men, who are being greeted by each Casa girl giving each boy a cheeky lap dance and a steamy kiss.
The reactions were astonishing, and this honestly may be the quickest the boys have turned their heads in Casa Amor in recent Love Island history. The six new Casa girls are as follows:
Amora Robinson, who has the strongest connection with Sincere
Parmida Keshani, who has the strongest connection with Corbin, but is also interested in Caleb
Jaiden Bacciocco, who has the strongest connection with Caleb
Tierra Davis, who has the strongest connection with KC, but is also interested in Bryce
Alanah Keyser, who has the strongest connection with Zach
and Sydney Eugene, who has the strongest connection with Bryce, but is also interested in KC
As the girls watch their men bump and grind, they’re quick to anger. Some viewers have speculated that producers made this change to help push the girls to explore the Casa boys, because traditionally, they stick with their original couple and leave Casa with no new connections. In an even bigger effort to have the girls let loose in Casa Amor, Ariana brings 12 new boys to the villa at the start of Monday’s episode. As the boys are already locking lips with their new flings, all 12 Casa boys get an entire day to mingle with the villa girls, who will collectively choose their top six to keep for the rest of the week. The chosen Casa boys are as follows:
Corey Sawyer Jr., who is interested in Trinity and Melanie
Chay Nehra, who is interested in Kayda
Gal Tshnieder, who is interested in Jen
Ronnie Gunter, who is interested in Melanie
Dylan Wrona, who is interested in Kenzie
and Carl Schmidt, who is interested in Aniya
After a day or so of small talk and awkward asks for kisses, Corbin, Zach, KC, and Kenzie seem to have moved on completely from their couples, while the rest of the islanders are having trouble moving on from their original couples. To round out the week, day two of Casa Amor ends with the first villa versus Casa challenge. The girls in the villa will choose a partner and a category, facing off head to head with their old couple in Casa to raise the “love thermometer.” The categories start off pretty normal, with options like kiss, lick, etc., but divulge into pure derangement with things like tickle and suck, which leads to even more tongue on toe action. In a bump and grind tie breaker, the villa secures the win, leaving the girls happy on day two of Casa Amor.
As we end the week, we start to see cracks in some of the strongest couples, while weaker ones are already off the table. Next week, the couples will explore their new Casa connections, and likely decide whether to take somebody back to the villa, stay with their current couple, or even remain single. Until then, I’ll be washing my eyes out and praying for no more foot content this season—or ever again—on Love Island USA.
