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As I've said many times before, Love Island USA is one of the most intriguing media viewing experiences that I've ever had in my life. We saw early in the season that it was unearthed that Yulissa had used racial slurs in a podcast interview from a couple of years ago. She was ultimately removed from the show after the first episode. Now, over a month later, we've witnessed Cierra, who had closed off her relationship with Nic and become a central character this season, also get removed. The prevailing belief is that her dismissal was due to the repeated use of insensitive racial slurs on her social media accounts prior to the season.
One thing I deeply admire about the Love Island fandom is their unwavering standard for behavior from the cast members on the show. They stand by it, hold the producers and islanders accountable, and are not shy about calling out what isn't right. I believe Cierra's dismissal was the correct decision. I am genuinely awestruck by how swiftly the Love Island fandom mobilizes and calls out injustices. It's admirable.
What's particularly interesting about Cierra's removal is that it finally paved the way for the long-anticipated pairing between Nic and Olandria. We saw hints of their connection teased a few episodes ago when both Nic and Olandria were left unchosen by new Casa Islanders. In a pivotal moment, the producers allowed them to couple up to save each other, giving them an opportunity to explore a potential relationship. At that time, it seemed Olandria was committed to Taylor, despite clear signs he wasn't genuinely interested, and Nic appeared ready to close off his connection with Cierra. Yet, fate intervened, and they've found their way back to each other. With Cierra dismissed, Nic was single. Olandria was also single because Taylor chose Clarke during the Casa Amor recoupling.
Now, we could very well be looking at the couple poised to win Love Island. Nic and Olandria already had a core fanbase rooting for their relationship to flourish. As someone who started watching Love Island because of Olandria, and has written several articles chronicling her journey on the show as an HBCU alumna, I was incredibly pleased with what unfolded on Sunday night.
The NicOlandria relationship can officially start; Taylor shows his disinterest
While there are some questions about Nic's moves in the villa, I genuinely believe he truly likes Olandria, and that their relationship has the potential to be authentic. They can genuinely explore their connection for the remainder of their time in the villa. It was subtly clear throughout the season that there was something between them. I honestly don't think Olandria fully realized it, but Nic certainly threw some hints her way that he was interested. However, from the beginning of the show, he was entangled with Bella-A and then Cierra, who entered as a bombshell in the first episode. He was largely coupled with them, and briefly explored other bombshells, but his focus remained on those two women. I'm glad this was the conclusion of the episode, as it offered yet another clear sign that Taylor never truly cared about Olandria.
In this episode, we saw Taylor meticulously plan an elaborate date for Clarke, even enlisting Ace to act as a waiter. They discussed their future and other deeper topics, far beyond superficial preferences like their favorite fruits and mind-numbing surface-level conversations. From what was depicted in the June episodes of Love Island, Taylor had to be convinced by Ace to pursue Olandria, to go on dates with her, and to build a connection. He didn't need any prompting to do that for Clarke; he did it with exuberance. This clearly shows his genuine interest in Clarke and the value he places on that connection, but it also unequivocally demonstrates that he never cared for Olandria in the same way, something we, the viewers, had already suspected.
Of course, Olandria's connection with Taylor is now over, and she's ready to explore her pairing with Nic. But it still needs to be stated: every time we see Taylor with Clarke, it becomes explicitly clear that he was never genuinely into Olandria. I understand that Love Island producers take liberties with editing, and what we see in the 59-minute to 1 hour 20-minute episodes on Peacock differs from the full 24 hours in the villa. But this is reality TV; you can only work with the footage you have. And from what has been displayed on screen, Taylor was, and is, clearly more invested in Clarke than he ever was in Olandria.
To be clear, Taylor is free to choose whomever he wants. If he was more attracted to Clarke and wanted to couple with her at Casa Amor, that's perfectly fine. The problem lies in how he treated Olandria – his lack of honesty about his intentions. If he truly felt something for Clarke and was ultimately going to pick her and explore their connection, he should have told Olandria from the start. Even after he chose Clarke, and Olandria was still trying to figure things out, he then went to her and said he wanted to explore both of them. He was not honest about his intentions, nor about how he felt about either Olandria or Clarke.
Now, we see Taylor and Clarke are happy, and there have been virtually no interactions between Olandria and Taylor since the “Stand on Business” challenge. However, a part of me is interested to see how Taylor reacts to his best friend in the villa, Nic, coupling with Olandria. Will there be some level of jealousy? Will he try to win back favor with Olandria? Or will he continue to show what he's displayed all season – that he never romantically liked Olandria – and continue to build with Clarke? Only time will tell, but I believe the third option is ultimately what will occur.
Olandria makes her standards plain
We've had glimpses into Olandria's thought process about what she desires in a man. She isn't looking for someone to provide for her economically; as she stated, she's a grown woman who makes her own money and can provide for herself. What she truly seeks is emotional support and a partner who will truly be there for her. She wants a love of her own and to build a genuine, romantic relationship. We saw Zak pitching that he could build houses, cook food, and pick her up from work – doing everything he could to stay in the villa, despite being the reason she left Casa Amor unchosen in the first place. That conversation sounded like a job interview and Olandria didn't seem amused.
Meanwhile, Nic didn't resort to such tactics. When Nic and Olandria spoke before the recoupling, he emphasized that they'd formed one of the deepest connections in the villa as friends, and that they could always depend on each other. While we knew the subtext was that Nic wanted Olandria to save him, it was also clear he genuinely wanted to explore their pairing and what it could become. I truly believe Olandria is a woman of high caliber.
She symbolizes Black women, especially HBCU-educated Black women in their 20s and early 30s, everywhere. She's future-focused, knows what she wants, and desires a partner who will be committed and show her genuine love and affection. I believe Nic can provide that, but we have to see how things unfold now that Cierra is off the show and they are officially coupled up without any restrictions. Taylor has moved on, and Cierra is out of the villa, so now let's see what their relationship can truly be.
I was initially nervous that Olandria's experience on the show was ruined by Taylor's dishonest approach in getting with Clarke. But, she can salvage her time on the show and explore a relationship with Nic that the audience clearly wanted to see. I'm excited to see what happens next. It appears Olandria and Nic are truly about to explore an amazing relationship. I believe that with the power of the fans who wanted them together from the start, and given that there hasn't been much strong love found this season as many initial connections fizzled out, Nic and Olandria can truly find love and win this season of Love Island.
They might leave with not only the prize money but a connection worth more than anything on this earth.
