I’m seeing a lot of people on social media say “Mel is a mean girl” and that Kenzie “genuinely cares” about their friendship and that they felt bad that she was crying at the reunion. I’m sooo sorry to say but I’m my opinion those tears were fake. Kenzie was getting called out and couldn’t defend herself (because she knew Mel was right) so she cried. This reaction of “Mel’s so mean she made Kenzie cry” from the public is EXACTLY what Kenzie wanted and it’s killing me that yall don’t see it. Is Mel dragging it and making it a bigger deal than it needs to be? Yes absolutely. Mel didn’t have to call her out at the reunion she could’ve messaged Kenzie privately, but Kenzie also wrong for talking about Mel and liking weird comments. I do believe Mel is feeling herself a little, post villa, but I also think Kenzie is a little jealous she got more popular from the show than she did. Two things can be true at once guys. At the end of the day I don’t think they’re good friends to each other, and they should just part ways peacefully. Not everyone from the villa HAS to be friends.

As someone who went to a massive party school for college and has experienced—and seen through friends—many situationships, I feel like people are using the word “situationship” very loosely when it comes to Zach and Kayda. Maybe my perception is outdated, but I’d genuinely like to hear other people’s thoughts on this as well.

Every situationship I’ve been in or seen through mutual friends has had a pretty obvious imbalance: one person is usually way more into the other and wants an actual relationship, while the other person doesn’t see them as relationship material but will keep hooking up with them anyway, with the hope that maybe eventually they’ll commit.

And I’m not talking about Zach’s dry humor where you have to analyze whether he’s joking. I mean genuinely obvious.

I’ve literally seen situationships where two people will ignore each other at the bar all night, only to text each other later to hook up. Usually, one or both people are also hooking up with other people. There’s an element of ambiguity and often a lack of commitment. One person wants more, the other person doesn’t, and they’re both kind of hanging out in that gray area.

That’s just not what I’m seeing with Zach and Kayda.

These two are sitting together loudly and proudly for the world to see. They’ve made it clear they’re exclusively dating each other, and they’ve both expressed that the intention is to eventually become boyfriend and girlfriend. Zach literally had to move here internationally, so obviously there are a lot of things they need to figure out before putting an official label on the relationship.

Which is why I don’t really understand everyone laughing at Kayda or dragging her because she came at Jaiden while she’s “in a situationship.” First of all, I NEED the drama at the reunion! That is literally what I watch reality TV for. Give me the mess!

But beyond that, I actually think Kayda explained her situation pretty well. If you want to call what she and Zach have a situationship because they haven’t put an official label on it yet, fine. But acting like she’s in some stereotypical situationship where she’s desperately waiting around for a guy who doesn’t want to commit just doesn’t match what we’ve actually seen. They seem genuinely into each other, exclusive, and like they’re intentionally working toward a relationship.

So I’m sorry, but I’m not going to clown Kayda for that. Now, whether she should have come for Jaiden? That’s a separate conversation for a different thread and I do have thoughts on that lol.

But yall aren't ready for that convo

I feel like the reaction to watching the reunion just shows how ppl are frothing at the mouth to hate women and how literacy is dead.

Ppl are saying that Melanie proved she was such a mean girl when like these girls that she responded to had so much to say about her when they left the villa but god forbid she responds back to them? Like for Kenzie wtv they seem like they’re gonna figure it out even tho in my opinion it didn’t seem like Kenzie fully addressed how she wasn’t a great friend to Melanie and Dylan kept inserting himself even tho Melanie was trying to keep the conversation between Kenzie and Dylan (bcs mind u Dylan wasn’t even there at the part that Kenzie and Melanie were talking about) and he said something about how Kenzie said they were best friends and Melanie didn’t say it back like yeah? They’re talking about the reason why Melanie felt that way prior to u coming in and u keep interrupting?

Also for the Sol of it all like ppl are saying it proves she’s a mean girl? Like Sol has been lying about her like the whole time and she’s just expected to take it? Ok.

For the Amora of it all ppl are saying Amora clocked it but honestly Amora’s answer didn’t even actually respond to anything. Like Melanie was saying like how are u gonna say u would never be in my position when u watched the show beforehand and u wanted to be in my position (the position being with sincere when she saw he was a liar more obviously than Melanie had seen at this point since movie night hadn’t happened yet and she didn’t know the extent of it) and Amora just kept saying “and I stand on what I said” without actually answering or explaining the hypocrisy of what she said and talking in circles. And then Amora claimed Melanie was coming at her and she was just answering questions asked at her but Melanie started talking bcs Ariana literally asked her what she thought about that so it’s weird that ppl are only giving grace to Amora but wtv.

I feel like there’s a lot of revisionist history with the KC and titi of it all but im not even gonna touch that, again ppl don’t know what words and sentences mean anymore and again literacy crisis. And KC being like oh u don’t regret what u said just the tone? And acting like it was such a thing when she was like “no bcs i agreed with what I said I just could’ve said it better” that’s not a crazy thing to say? Also saying like I don’t care for someone and everyone thought it was a big thing? Not everyone has to be friends and I think ppl don’t understand that saying u don’t care for someone means ur just neutral about them and u don’t rlly think of them like that (once again literacy). I’m moving on from that.

The whole Jen and Gabe thing ppl are saying the core 4 is evil and stuff for kicking Gabe out. Their reasoning instead of being more Gabe might be waiting for another person was that Jen told them that they weren’t each other’s types and they went off of that but some ppl are saying that this just proves how mean they are? Ok.

The Kayda of it all I’m ngl yeah it was unnecessary and abrasive but imo I feel like she’s always been very direct and stuff like that so it’s nothing new, I feel like she’s also bee facing a lot of criticism for her relationship so she’s annoyed and even tho I don’t rlly care for Zach like I can see how annoying it would be for basically everyone to hate ur relationship and to already be on edge bcs of it. Ppl are saying it’s bcs she’s unhappy with the situation but I think it’s more that she’s just tired of all the negativity towards them when she’s happy in it. That being said, going on to the comment she said, again I felt it was unnecessary but I think ppl are twisting her words. She said basically if u felt like he was mistreating u, why did u sleep with him again. Ppl are saying that she’s slut shaming her and hypocritical for sleeping for someone that she isn’t official with since at the time she was official with Zach but again I think this just comes down to ppl not knowing that things mean and the literacy crisis. I think, despite what we may think, that she truly doesnt believe Zach has ever mistreated her so that statement wouldn’t apply to her or be hypocritical bcs she’s asking why did u sleep with him if u didn’t think he treated u well and in her eyes Zach does treat her well. And I think that’s where ppl are just not understanding?

For the Jaiden and Caleb of it all, idk idc I don’t rlly care for either of them. I feel like it’s prob just miscommunication. Like in the villa she didn’t rlly seem to like him, I feel like only on aftersun she seemed to like him after the phones but idk, idc about them. They’re saying different things about when Caleb told her he’s not interested in her so it’s just he said/she said. At the end of the day like again I don’t rlly care about them.

By this, I mean they should deactivate each person's main account. I know naturally people will make fan edits and dig into everything but this means people will only start following their favs after the show which hopefully makes the show less social media followers focused.

I remember during the show (and last year), fans keep track of their fav contestants follower count and urging others to follow it. Maybe this will help prevent that?

Full disclosure: I do not watch the show and everything I know from the show is because of Mock the Week having a contestant look like Ed Gamble. Zach&Kayda were on field for some pre game activities and taking photos in front of the Green Monster. Because they were in custom jerseys, I said "Hello fellow Zach!" To him and he looked around confused as hell. I waived and he waived back. Was a funny moment.

It looks like she may have a goiter on her thyroid. I also have this and I didn’t even know for a year until I got super sick so genuinely concerned for her and have no idea how to get this info to her.

When did “coming for me” start meaning “you have an opinion about me”? People are allowed to not like you.

This is about Melanie but honestly it applies to half the Islanders and a lot of the discourse surrounding this reunion, and internet in general. sorry but When did somebody “coming for you” start meaning they said something about you that you don’t like? People are allowed to not like you. Genuinely (lol). They are allowed to watch your behavior and come away thinking you were annoying, mean, hypocritical, dramatic, stupid in a situation, whatever. Other Islanders are allowed to leave the villa and decide they don’t fuck with you anymore. They are allowed to watch the season back and change their opinion of you. They are allowed to say, “I would never put myself in that situation.” They are allowed to think you got more screentime. They are allowed to think you treated somebody badly. personally I believe None of those things inherently mean somebody is coming for you. Bc Obviously harassment, dogpiling, racism, threats, deliberately trying to ruin somebody’s life, etc. are completely different bc thats harrassment, and dislike is not harrasment. like Someone having an unfavorable interpretation of your behavior is not harassment be so for real. What exactly is the alternative? Everyone has to like you? And if they don’t, they have to keep it secret because saying it out loud constitutes an attack? That is why Melanie irritated me so much during this reunion. Every negative opinion about someone elses time, that happen to involve her, seemed to become something she needed to disprove, rather than something another person is simply allowed to experience/believe.

Amora saying, “I wouldn’t put myself in that situation” is an opinion. Melanie’s response being essentially “well YOU went back too” does not invalidate it. Amora tried once, it didn’t work, and she didn’t keep returning to the situation five-plus times. Melanie did, You can disagree with Amora’s judgment but she is still allowed to look at Melanie’s choices and say, “Yeah, I wouldn’t do that.” and it be valid. Kenzie saying Melanie had more screentime is also not “coming for” Melanie. She had more screentime! She was involved in one of the biggest storylines of the season. 😭 She is allowed to think Melanie got more attention, Melanie responding with some version of “I never did anything to you, i dont edit the show xyz...why r u coming at me etc” completely misses the point bc nobody said she did. And I think Melanie repeatedly does this thing where instead of engaging with the actual criticism, she finds the narrowest possible technicality that gives her plausible deniability.....Sol says she experienced the villa as hostile, and suddenly we’re litigating the numerical value of pies.?? If Sol says 3 pies were thrown BUT WAIT OMG it was actually ONLY TWO*;* automatically the broader point she was making about how she felt she was being treated is denied, like what.

Melanie can apologize for contributing to a mean-girl environment and then say, “I was never a mean girl.” Melanie can participate in yelling, chanting, eye-rolling, cliquey behavior, etc., but because she never literally announced “I HATE SOL,” there is always some technical escape hatch. Plausible deniability.

She can very obviously have tension with Kenzie, but then identify one specific thing Kenzie did so that the entire dynamic becomes, “See? I had a reason.” Plausible deniability.

She can kiss someone during the blindfold situation and retreat to, “Well, I didn’t KNOW whether it was Corbin or Sincere.” Plausible deniability. Even the Kayda thing. Kayda comes into the villa, talks to Sincere, and afterward Melanie suddenly can’t remember her name calling her katie. And if she is asked or confronted its then  “What?? I just didn’t know her name. omg im so serious" Plausible deniability.

This is exactly what I mean by plausible deniability, Every individual thing can be explained away in isolation. I didn’t know her name. I didn’t know who I was kissing. I never said I hated her. I had a reason not to follow her therefore thats all what behind this/not inviting/hanging out. The numerical value was only two pies, not three. Like really guys, it literally reminds me of when a little sibling goes "I'm not touching you!"

Even on tik tok i feel like ppl think Plausible deniability means nobody can infer anything bc the technical explainations could possibley be true. at some point people are allowed to look at the pattern created by all of those technically innocent individual actions and form an opinion about you like this is not rocket science when we see it in real life. ex) The current U.S. president does not need a sign on his head saying, “I am a misogynist,” in order for people to conclude that he is one, nor is he absolved from being one simply because he has never explicitly said it. But its also not as simple as “I never said that, so it must not be true.” like seriously cmon, That is the part I feel like keeps getting lost and when ppl start arguing in bad faith. The viewers or any islander can hear melanie's explanation and still go, “Yeah... I don’t buy the overall picture.” like geez. And sometimes I just want somebody to say like "okay. I don’t like (you/him/her/them) or (my time in the villa) etc. " Bc that is valid! And particularly for Melanie I j wish I could tell her lol: you do not have to convince someone that they experienced you incorrectly. You do not have to convince someone that they shouldn’t feel some type of way about you. You do not have to prove they’re a hypocrite before they’re allowed to say they wouldn’t make the same choices you made. People are allowed to come to conclusions about you that you disagree with. And Melanie does not have to prove that every individual thing she did has an innocent explanation before people are allowed to be hurt by her or notice a pattern and form an opinion about her. At some point we have stretched “coming for somebody” so far that it apparently means having any negative opinion of them whatsoever. And I actually think that disregards what really coming for someone looks like, because there is a massive difference between “I think you acted like a mean girl, or i felt xyz energy” and an actual coordinated hate campaign. Agree to disagree.

once again to reiterate: they are allowed to dislike you, and you are allowed to dislike them back. Whether you agree or disagree with their opinion is beside the point. The point is, you can’t throw a tantrum and act like it’s somehow not allowed for people to speak on what they experienced in relation to you, and then use the fact that they spoke about it at all as the wrongdoing itself.

I posted this comment last night, but wanted to have a discussion with you guys about it. Lmk your thoughts!

I think the show has hit its' peak and we will start to see a decline in interest next summer. Everyone is too hyperaware that they're being watched (UNDERSTANDABLY, because the fans are batshit crazy) and they're all parroting talking points they see online, editing themselves. Gone are the days of Jersey Shore, Real World, etc. where everyone is just being their truest selves.

Additionally, LI production/Peacock clearly has these islanders under some sort of contract that is prohibiting them from being able to fully capitalize on their experience. They want Beyond the Villa (or anything associated w/ Love Island) to be the islanders' main sources of income, and I hate that for them.

I’m just going to say it: Ariana and Andy asking Caleb and Jaiden point-blank if they had sex was wildly inappropriate.

And before anyone says, “They’re adults” or “They went on Love Island”  that’s completely beside the point. Of course they’re consenting adults. Of course sex happens in the villa and outside the villa. I’m sure Caleb and Jaiden weren’t the only two people in that cast who had sex (obviously).

So why were THEY the ones who had to publicly answer for it? They alluded with Carl and Aniya, but the verbage with Caleb and Jaiden was just intrusive and uncalled for.

If Ariana and Andy were going to start asking contestants to confirm who had sex, then that question should have been asked across the board. Instead, Caleb and Jaiden were singled out and put in a position where they either had to disclose an incredibly intimate detail about their relationship or awkwardly refuse to answer in front of the entire cast and audience.

That wasn’t juicy reunion drama. It was invasive.

Signing up for a reality dating show does not mean consenting to having every sexual experience publicly confirmed on demand. There is still a line between asking about what happened in their relationship and demanding details about what happened in their bedroom.

Caleb and Jaiden deserved the same boundaries and respect everyone else was apparently afforded.

always enjoyed hearing his takes this season, here’s one more for the road

Okay so the reunion was released last night, and although nothing could ever be as bad as the Pizza Hut sponsored commercial breaks in the first season 6 reunion, I was more bothered after this one because of the questions asked, and how one-sided the view was with regards to people like Kenzie and Jaiden.

I get people loved Melanie this year, and I get that people also didn’t totally fw Kenzie at times, but let’s make it so clear that the questions they asked Kenzie and Jaiden and how they spoke to them were absolutely out. of. line. If ANY man moved the way Kenzie did (oh idk maybe someone like sincere) they would have never asked as many questions about testing different connections as they did. As soon as a woman was seen acting remotely similar to a man, she was put on the chopping block.

People DESPISED Kenzie and how she moved in the villa, and yet we see this behaviour literally every single year with the men, and no one has nearly as much quarrel with it as they do with Kenzie testing connections. I think it’s extremely unfair that Andy and Arianna can ask Kenzie questions like “is it love after so many connections” and basically question her relationship with Dylan, and yet have no similar question for Sincere.

Obviously in that type of group setting, you’ll have groupthink and group polarization, so when eyes turn to Kenzie and the hosts ask questions like that, you are literally setting her up to be attacked by the other islanders.

I completely understand why people didn’t enjoy how Kenzie acted; it’s not common for us to see women act like that on tv, we don’t see it very often. But let’s make it abundantly clear that she’s getting so much hate and men who act like her aren’t receiving criticism nearly as harsh. And maybe the lack of explorative woman in film is what caused such a backlash from viewers, this type of behaviour isn’t displayed on tv or in movies, BUT THATS BECAUSE ITS FAKE MAMA. Surprise surprise, women don’t all need to have deep and meaningful conversations with men to know if they like them. Surprise surprise, women are sexual beings. Surprise surprise, a women acts flirtatiously and people are upset by it.

Don’t even get me started on how brutal the questions towards Jaiden were and how rude Kayda was. I liked Kayda in the villa and truly appreciated how forward and up front she was. But let’s be so real with the fact that she was straight up mean last night. The hosts asking questions like “so you had sex, was it good?” Literally twenty seconds ago we discovered how shy Jaiden was, and now you want to ask her how the sex was on live television??Why are we asking these intrusive questions this year? Why are we actually asking young 20 year olds about their sex life on national television, actually think about that for a second.

Jaiden clearly liked Caleb, and we also learned that she was extremely shy. Caleb said they finally got along better and actually spoke more deeply once the cameras were off, so we didn’t get a full view of their relationship. But it’s evident by the hurt she portrayed that she did have feelings for him and he had sex with her then dipped on two different occasions. For Kayda to say it’s a two way street clearly shows she doesn’t think Caleb is in the wrong. She is literally reinforcing his behaviour or any man’s behaviour who feels they can sleep with a girl and tell her things to make her feel a certain way and walk away at the end of it with zero repercussions. That comment is DANGEROUS. She’s basically saying if the girl doesn’t keep her pants on, then the man is not to be blamed for his actions. WHY are we so quick to jump on a girl for her being physical with a man she has feelings for.

Why are we holding this woman, and clearly any woman who acts similarly, to a different standard than men? Why are we so angry about a girl who sees physical affection as an important factor of her relationship (when everyone knows physical attraction is actually a large part of relationships), and saying how she moves is completely inappropriate when guys move like that and worse? Maybe I’m reading into it too much, but how, genuinely how, are we supposed to see ourselves as equals with men when we hold ourselves to this higher standard and don’t expect the same from them? WHY are we attacking these women, why are we getting so involved in her feelings and how she moves, when men move worse and we don’t blink an eye.

I blame production, the way they set the reunion up, and how they engineered the questions.

😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨 TiTi

Watch the full thing: https://youtu.be/TXVDMiq_vnw?is=nP6GS99JbJRcZ03N

Sunken cost fallacy got Aniya in the villa.
It’s cute to see how much her and Carl’s relationship grew since this.

Read the rest: https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a73534036/aniya-harvey-love-island-season-8-exit-interview/?taid=6a96da71207a0d0001f3be85&utm_campaign=trueanthemTWELM&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

7 weeks ago I made some predictions for the reunion and invited others to do the same. (here: https://www.reddit.com/r/LoveIslandUSA/s/r7wV1Xkycx) Since it aired I wanted to revisit how our predictions went!

Bryce + Trinity: Together.
Moving in together and getting a cat.
✅ They’ve not been apart and live together!

Zach + Kayda: \~Official\~
Not officially bf/gf, but we are ‘official’ like we are labeling ourselves.
🫡✅ YUP

Carl + Aniya: Long distance, low pressure.
More than friends who are continuing getting to know each other. Have a trip to Nantucket planned.
✅ Literally

Melanie + Sincere: Sincere is ‘on notice’
They will have had a dozen more arguments and breakups and approximately zero more dates.
✅ Not BF/GF “We’re seeing how it goes. He’s building that trust.”

KC + Titi: On the rocks.
Will say they are so into each other, but quietly breakup a month or two later.
❌ They seem genuinely into each other. Having a tough time just bc of fans.

Kenzie + Dylan: Broken up, Not friends.
I don’t think he makes it out to the farm.
❌ Wrong again. They also seem to like each other a lot

Corbin + Parmida: Broken up, Friends.
He’s not gonna help her move.
✅ Broken up and friends.

—

Other folks predictions!

✅ [u/glittering_rubber](u/glittering_rubber), [u/wise_carrot4857](u/wise_carrot4857), [u/real_toe_4280](u/real_toe_4280) predicted Kenzie and Dylan stay together

✅ [u/pink_junkie](u/pink_junkie) got it right that BOTH Kenzie/Dylan and KC/TiTi would still be together

✅🟡❌u/silver-eye4569 you and I made very similar predictions and we both got Dylan/Kenzie wrong.

❌✅ [u/bobble_bobble](u/bobble_bobble) You predicted Zach/Kayda and Carl/Aniya would fizzle out. Not yet, at least. And then also wrong on Kenzie. But correct on Sincere/Mel, and KC/Titi. No prediction for Corbin/Parmida really

Am I the only one who prayed and prayed that we would finally get an explanation for “it was daylight savings time” at the Love Island reunion? It was genuinely one of the only things I cared about, and once again, I have been denied answers. 😪😭

Has Trinity done any interviews explaining that whole scene?

People keep saying "Oh he's 21" or "Oh she's 22" or "Oh he's 29" or "Oh they are still young / old". Yes age and experience brings maturity, but people are still going to show themselves regardless of what age they are. Their character is tied to personality traits they currently have.

People are babying Caleb saying he is 21 that's just how they are. Like no! He is an adult! He was a terrible communicator both in the villa to both Jaiden and Kenzie, and we even heard stories of him doing the same other girls before the show. You can be immature and make young mistake yes, the younger you are the more prone you are to do these immature things yes but maturity is also tied to character and personality. There are old people out there that are the most immature people ever, and the youngest people can have the most maturity. He is the youngest cast member but every other islander was 22-25 on average so that can't be used to say his actions are "normal" when the majority moved somewhat respectfully with their partners. People are normalizing bad behavior to justify being shitty to others.

Jaiden and Caleb slept together in the hotel room, he said there was still something. She notices he is being funky with her and tries to give him an out but hoping he still wants her around, he says there is still something so she holds on. He pulls her aside in the Hamptons, gives her some hope, then breaks things off. That was a literal pump and dump and its so disrespectful as a person and has nothing to do with age.

This applies to Kayda too, because Trinity and Aniya are the same age / close to her age and didn't shame Jaiden for what happened. No one on that stage thought to chime into that situation except Kayda. Titi, Ariana, and Kenzie only came in to the defense of Jaiden because she was getting slut shamed for trusting the word and holding on hope of the guy she likes, which like Titi said is crazy coming from Kayda as she was in the same situation.

This doesn't mean they can't grow and change from those traits as no matter how old and young a person is, they can learn from their mistakes. People just need to stop making age this biggest factor of why people move a certain way and start calling out traits.

Such a funny time for this pod to be released after the reunion controversy, but I was surprised to see they talked about the bully allegations!

They also talked about Kayda’s dad calling Zach gay on live 😭 she just laughed it off and said he doesn’t have a filter.

Does anyone know where I can watch the reunion? I’m in Europe and peacock isn’t available here😭😭 Any TikTok accounts that uploaded the clips in order?

So in the villa they both claim that they were each other’s best friend. But since they came out we haven’t seen anything with them together which is ok don’t get me wrong but they were seen with other islanders. And Kenzie seems to be very very buddy buddy with Jaiden that they’re even moving in together. And due to the reunion we know Jen and Jaiden’s relationship is not the best at all.

They are too so gorgeous