After a summer full of ups and downs, Love Island USA finally crowned the season 7 winner — but which couple scored the most votes?
During the Sunday, July 13, season finale of the hit Peacock dating show, host Ariana Madix announced that Amaya Espinal and Bryan Arenales got the most votes from the public and were splitting the $100,000 prize.
Nic Vansteenberghe and Olandria Carthen placed second, Chris Seeley and Huda Mustafa came third and Iris Kendall and Pepe Garcia placed fourth.
Sunday’s conclusion comes after a hectic season. In addition to the drama on screen as the Islanders found their match, there were some surprising challenges off screen. Two episodes into the season, Yulissa Escobar exited after clips of her using racial slurs on a podcast circulated online.
Yulissa wasn’t the only Islander to find themselves gone from the villa before the season came to an end. Cierra Ortega faced backlash when a resurfaced social media post showed her using a slur as well.
Both Yulissa and Cierra apologized amid their respective scandals. Meanwhile in the villa, each Islander tested different connections, which left America divided on who they were rooting for ahead of the finale.
Luckily, Us Weekly caught up with some of the dumped Love Island USA Islanders to get their hot takes on who they saw winning — and the majority showed support for Ace and Chelley, who left before the last episode.
“I will say Ace and Chelley, because the other couples are a little new and we don’t know. It’s not enough time to tell if it’s actually a genuine connection and if they actually have potential to be a couple outside of the villa,” Andreina Santos-Marte told Us. “I think the winner should be a couple that has shown that they have feelings that they grew from this point to that point that they put a lot of effort into making it until the end. And I think, from the couples that are there, they’re that couple.”
Bryan and Amaya were a close second.
“I think that Amaya and Bryan are gonna win, to be honest,” TJ Palma shared. “But looking at it as a connection [and who has] been through a lot and the longest — it’s Ace and Chelley. I don’t think they’re gonna win, but I feel they’ve been through a lot. They’ve been on and off since the beginning, and that just makes the most sense to me. But I do think Amaya and Bryan are gonna win. I support all of the couples, but I think Amaya and Bryan will probably take it home.”
Love Island USA is currently streaming on Peacock.
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