Love Island USA S6 set the standard and unfortunately S7 could not deliver.

Spilling the tea on the latest season of Love Island because this show has stayed rent free in my head long enough.

Season 7 of Love Island USA just ended yesterday and because it’s been my guilty pleasure and primary obsession for the past six weeks, I decided I want to give my unfiltered and honest opinion of this season as a whole.

Before I dig into this season’s ASS, I want to start off by saying that I am not technically a new Love Island USA watcher. I know there are quite a few newbies to the Love Island USA fandom, many only knowing about it after watching Season 6, arguably one of the BEST seasons of Love Island USA we’ve had thus far. Down to the casting, the romance, the drama, the friendships, and the fact that the top three couples are STILL together and going strong. Shoutout to PPG and their men hehe :) I don’t know if we’ll ever get a season of Love Island with that amount of pop culture stardom again.

Anyways, I started watching Love Island from Season 3, (skipped season 4) and watched Season 5-6, and now 7. So I guess maybe I’m technically still a bit new? But I would like to consider myself more of an experienced watcher at this point.

Obviously, after watching Season 6 and being so attached to the cast, I had really high hopes about Season 7. I wasn’t expecting it to be exactly like Season 6, you know obviously new people, new dynamics and such. But I still was hoping to see some of that juicy, humorous, romantic, and fun energy that got me hooked on last season. Unfortunately, the way things played out with this new cast was pretty disappointing, and argubably one of the worst seasons in Love Island USA history.

Let’s start with the fact that the Islanders seemed to be on the show for reasons other than romance. This season’s casting had quite a bit of social media influencers and models in the mix, so naturally that made the show feel kind of artificial and shallow in many ways. It was obvious that people came on the show hoping to boost their brand and gain some of the sponsorships and opportunities that the cast of Season 6 was able to achieve.

It already came out that Cierra Ortega, one of this season’s bombshells, was literally friends with some of the previous cast members from Love Island. Even Taylor allegedly came onto the show to boost his modeling career. Ace was already Tiktok famous and literally got invited to be on the Jennifer Hudson show. Now I’m not saying that none of these people were looking to find love, but it’s obvious that they were hoping to gain something extra, even if they didn’t end up falling in love or winning the 100k cash prize.

More than that, something about the way the Islanders were voting this season felt very strategic and calculated. The Islanders being able to vote and save each other from being dumped is not a new Love Island concept. What IS new however, is the fact that so many islanders seemed to be dumped this season for the WRONG reasons. Based on previous seasons that I've watched, the islanders that are chosen to be dumped are often ones that are struggling to find secure connections.

Of course other factors could still save you from being dumped, like if the islanders feel like you were being dealt a shitty hand or they genuinely just don’t want to vote their friend to go home. But MOST of the time, if you had no solid connection on the island and were up for elimination, you were sent packing.

Season 7 is one of the first seasons where Islanders are being dumped for having strong connections and “locking in” too quickly in their couples. The whole ‘love bombing’ hysteria between Huda and Jeremiah was a huge storyline this season as people felt like Jeremiah was trying to play the game by locking in early to secure the win. And, one of the most disappointing dumps of this season was seeing the girls choose to send Hannah home, simply because she had a strong connection with Pepe and Charlie, and was not exploring other people.

And this is why I say, the voting this season felt a bit calculated and strategic, like the islanders were purposely choosing to vote off people who seemed to be doing well at finding sparks in their connections. Jeremiah was a hot commodity in the villa, even after his very toxic coupling with Huda. But unfortunately, the boys sent him packing because he was ‘too invested’ in his budding connection with Andreina.

It was really disappointing to see because literally the whole point of the show is to find someone that you like and build on that connection with them until the end. Do I think Jeremiah came on pretty strong with Huda? Yes. But the whole love-bombing accusation was a serious reach and I still don’t think he deserved to be voted off. I’m not convinced anyone in or outside of the villa actually understands what love bombing means.

And since we mentioned Huda coulda shoulda woulda. You know who did actually deserve to be dumped from the Island? And somehow, she still managed to make it into the finale as one of the TOP 3 couples.

Huda was put up for elimination TWICE, and both opportunities the islanders had to VOTE her out, she was saved. Even when she had no other connections going for herself after Jeremiah. Also, the public is to blame as well for Huda making it to the finale since she gained a pretty big cult following online.

No matter how many times this girl disrespected fellow islanders AND genuinely made everyone in the villa uncomfortable because of her emotional dysfunction, she remained safe every single time.

That brings me to my next gripe with this season, which is the tolerance of toxic behaviors from Huda and the lack of retaliation from the producers. Huda called Jeremiah out of his name multiple times as well as Amaya and Iris, and visibly made all of the islanders uncomfortable because her emotions and behaviors were aggressive and unpredictable. After seeing Yulissa being removed for saying the N word and Cierra for saying an Asian slur, I’m just confused as to why the same energy was not also applied to Huda? Although she did not make any racist remarks, her behavior this season was still making the villa a hostile environment to be in; which to me is immediate grounds for needing to be pulled off the show.

This is not the first time we have seen a woman crash out on Love Island and it certainly won’t be the last, but I don’t think the producers understand what kind of message they are sending by being selective about which islanders are allowed to behave in ways that are pretty harmful.

It makes me think about Serena’s crashout from last season (which was 100% valid btw) after Kordell chose to couple up with another girl from Casa Amor. I can just imagine the amount of hate she would have garnered from the public had she been on this season of Love Island. Hell, I think she still did. Meanwhile, Leah also crashed out MULTIPLE times in the villa and she gained even more sympathy from the public because of it. I am 100% certain that the current watchers of Love Island would have been pushing for Serena to be removed from the show for being a ‘bully’. Some of y'all's new favorite words to describe outspoken, emotional black women.

Which brings me to the next point. The amount of racial bias and misogynoir that ran rampant from the audience this season was the icing on the cake for why this season sucked. The fact that people were labeling Chelley and Olandria, the only two black female contestants on the show, as ‘bullies’ simply because they FINALLY decided to hold Huda accountable and express their true feelings towards HER problematic behaviors is extremely frustrating. The amount of hate Chelley received alone was so bad that her family had to make a public statement about it asking everyone to please be kind and turn her comment sections off.

There’s also something to be said about the producers editing this season, which severely impacted the public perception of certain islanders versus others. Chelley opened up about the fact that she cried so much during her time in the Villa. And yet, the only emotionally charged scenes we got to see was when she expressed her anger towards Huda. Even the way they edited scenes of Olandria made it seem like SHE was the aggressor during the conversation between her and Taylor in the stand on business challenge. I’m certain that there was more to the conversation we didn’t get to see, but of course the producers only chose to focus on the parts where she directly called Taylor out for his lack of honesty about where their connection truly stood.

Time and time again, the world never fails to humble black women and remind us that we are not allowed to be emotional. Meanwhile, the type of women that ARE allowed to be sensitive, cry babies that unapologetically express their feelings, are always non-black and particularly in closer proximity to whiteness. Huda is Palestinian and obviously benefits from colorism, featurism, and racial bias. Leah is Persian and it can be argued that she benefitted from this as well.

There is nothing the world seems to hate more than two dark-skin black women speaking up for themselves. It’s the only logical explanation for why Chelley and Olandria received hate and scrutiny, while Huda was given so much grace online. People even going as far as to make harmful comments about Chelley and Olandria’s appearance was truly sick to me. You know who was being called stunning and gorgeous throughout the entire season, even when her behavior was anything but?

The amount of coddling that Huda received from the public and from some of the islanders on the show was not deserved in my honest opinion. It would be different if we actually saw growth and accountability from her, but she was still repeating the same toxic cycles leading up to the finale. The only thing that seemed to change was her tone and delivery, but she was still combative, defensive, inconsiderate, and self-obsessed. Just because she was no longer cursing at others, does not mean she suddenly deserved a cookie and a pat on the back. And she certaintly did not deserve to make it into the finale of the show.

Moving on, the lack of romance between islanders was another strike for me this season. Like at some point, I was not rooting for ANY couple to win. And the few connections I actually did enjoy seeing were immediately voted off. Meanwhile islanders like Huda and Austin, two people in the villa that had the LEAST amount of romantic chemistry in their couples, were consistently safe from elimination.

Also, the fact that Iris/Pepe, and Huda/Chris made it to the finale while Ace and Chelley were dumped was INSANE to me. Like I could have bet money that Chelley and Ace were going to be this season’s Love Island winners. I had my unpopular opinions of Ace and their coupling together was far from perfect, but to me they still had one if not THE strongest connection in the villa. I don’t even like Taylor and I still feel like him and Clarke deserved to be in the finale more than those two couples.

Imagine my disappointment when Chris and Huda literally decided to end their connection right in the middle of their FINALE date. Talk about a complete and total waste of time. Like Chelley and Ace literally closed off with each other and yall still voted Chris/Huda to be in the finale over them????? JAIL.

I also truly hate that Chelley and Olandria did not get to go into the finale together. One of the most genuine friendships we witnessed this season was between these two ladies. Like how could yall do this to these cuties :( Chelley deserved better!

While I may not have voted for Amaya and Bryan as my winners, I do think that it was nice to see Amaya find someone that appreciated her sensitivity and quirkiness. Also, the fact that Amaya/Bryan are the first Latino couple to win love island is pretty awesome as well. I think the best part of their connection was how much they could relate to each other culturally since they’re both Dominican. I wish them the best and hope that their connection remains strong outside the villa.

I think one of the only good things that came from this season was seeing the romance blossom between Nic and Olandria. I will admit that I initially was not convinced at first considering their previous couples with Cierra and Taylor, but the Nicolandria hive wore me down and I could not unsee the potential. Also, I am a complete sucker for a good friends to lovers trope.

It was so refreshing to see Olandria be reassured and cared for by Nic in ways that we didn’t see from her connection to Taylor. Say what you will about Nic because he certaintly had some pretty skeptical moments this season , but one thing that remained consistent was his genuine affection and admiration for Olandria. She literally deserved nothing but the best and I’m so happy her final days in the villa were spent being loved on like the beautiful, gorgeous, stunning queen that she is. Period. Nicolandria may not have won first place but I’ll still take them being runners up as a win! I hope many good things come from their time on love island both individually and together.

Also just want to reiterate, these are my own personal opinions of how this season failed to reach its true potential. Some may disagree and that is completely okay. I am not endorsing any hate or harm to ANY of the islanders on the show either. At the end of the day, these people are human beings with feelings that should be considered when discussing your thoughts about them. I hope every islander learned something from this experience and continues to do well as they reintegrate back into the real world.

All in all, Love Island Season 7 was pretty unconventional and in many ways more tumultuous than it was romantic and genuine. The casting really fell short and that seemed to really hurt the integrity of this show. I’ve heard many people say that they canceled their Peacock subscriptions and this will be the last time they watch a season of Love Island. Yikes. The cast of Season 6 truly spoiled us. I don’t know if Love Island USA or reality tv in general will ever be the same.

For funsies, here is what my top four couples would have been, IN THIS ORDER:

1. Nic and Olandria (duh)

2. Ace and Chelley

3. Amaya and Bryan

4. Taylor and Clarke

I also would have accepted Ace/Chelley as this season’s winners and Nic/Olandria still keeping their runners up spot.

Those are my thoughts on this season! Looking forward to the reunion and in the meantime I will be rewatching edits of Nicolandria because I am a hopeless romantic.

If you made it all the way to the end of this post, comment who you think deserved to be in the finale! How did everyone feel about the Season 7 results?