Connor, Aaron, Kaylor. Peacock (3)
Fans of Love Island USA are reeling over Casa Amor after watching Aaron and Kordell make quick connections as their unknowing respective partners, Kaylor and Serena, cry over missing them in the villa.
While recently eliminated from the Peacock series, Connor Newsum gave Us Weekly some insight into the men, who were given the choice to go to Casa and meet new bombshells or stay back with their connections. (Aaron Evans and Kaylor Martin have been together since the beginning, while Kordell Beckham and Serena Page recently turned a corner when it came to their feelings for each other.)
“It’s tough. It’s unique that in a lot of previous seasons, you’ve had a lot more stable, strong relationships going into Casa. So I think previously that’s something that people might have taken up, but I do think Aaron was like, ‘I want to test this connection with Kaylor.’ And then obviously saw what happened right when he got to Casa, he’s doing it. The whole time I was there, I felt as though that was just very real,” Connor told Us. “They just laughed with each other the whole time. Everyone in there was like, ‘These two are gonna win. They’re the strongest connection. They make everyone happy just to see them happy.’ So I was like, ‘Maybe he’ll stay.’ But also he really loves all the guys. I think he would’ve missed the guys the whole time.”
Connor acknowledged how difficult it is to see the footage of Kaylor crying over missing Aaron, but he isn’t so sure that things are over between them.
“Ultimately, I would predict that they stay together. I think there will be some tough conversations on the other end of it, naturally. I think that what they have feels real. I wanna believe that they stay together because that would make me really happy to see them be together,” he said.
Connor isn’t quite as convinced that Kordell and Serena will recover from Casa.
Kordell, Serena. Peacock (2)
“Even people in the villa didn’t know whether that was legitimate or not. And I think the guys at one point told Kordell, like, ‘You should be cautious of the fact that she’s pulling away and then grabbing you back and then kind of pulling away again,’” he said, pointing to Serena opting not to commit to Kordell at a previous challenge as a bad sign. “And that dance challenge was a good opportunity for her to really show Kordell that she was happy in the connection and she ended up twisting. So then again, we were all kinda like, ‘What’s going on with that?’ And then you see Kordell in Casa with somebody who’s giving him 100 percent of the energy that he’s been wanting the entire time he’s been in the villa and making him feel special.”
They got a text — and found love in the Love Island USA villa. The beloved British dating show made its way across the pond in 2019, following a crop of American bombshells searching for The One in a luxury tropical villa. In season 1, eventual winners Elizabeth Weber and Zac Mirabelli had a connection […]
Connor continued: “And as much as I love Serena — I genuinely love Serena, I think she’s an incredible human — I don’t know. I think Kordell might be very smitten by the idea that someone’s giving him that attention. … There were times where he felt terrible about reciprocating all that love that he was getting in Casa and being like, ‘Oh, my God, Serena’s gonna kill me.’ He definitely has feelings for her, so we’ll see on the other side.”
One connection that could come out stronger after Casa is Kendall Washington and Nicole Jacky.
Nicole, Kendall. Peacock (2)
“Kendall and Nicole are like the dark horse. I think that is a very real connection. We all experienced it in real time, the way they just run around and dance around, like, they would be in a broadcast booth for our ping-pong matches [joking with each other]. They had so much chemistry, they were so fun,” he said when asked who could win the show (decided by fan votes) at the end of the summer. “If it’s just based on real connections, they are absolutely up in that top three. If Aaron and Kaylor can figure it out, I could definitely see them winning. Serena and Kordell potentially too. Leah and Miguel feels a little fresh, but it seemed really nice when it was going on — Leah is definitely a huge fan favorite.”
Connor can admit he’s a bit surprised by Leah Kateb’s popularity with the fans (the twosome had a rocky romance of their own, with her admitting to other Islanders that she wasn’t that into him), but he also gets that female viewers would relate to her.
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“I think a lot of girls see her perspective on it, so that’s very fair. I would have to say I’m still gonna put my money on Aaron and Kaylor in figuring it out. It is gonna be a rough path after a movie night,” he told Us, referring to when the Islanders get to see footage of each other from their time apart. “But I do think that they have love for each other, so we’ll see. I might look stupid after this.”
New episodes of Love Island USA drop six days a week at 6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET on Peacock.