Love Island Fans Pick Sides in Kendall vs. Nicole Drama

The sixth season of “Love Island USA” is officially over — including the reunion special — and fans are coming after one couple, even though they just revealed that they’ve officially split.

Nicole Jacky and Kendall Washington eventually paired up during Season 6 of the dating competition show — Kendall started the show on the very first day, while Nicole entered the villa as a new bombshell on Day 6 — and finished out the season in fourth place, which is pretty solid considering the sheer number of people that filtered in and out of the “Love Island” villa. (First place ultimately went to Kordell Beckham and Serena Paige, with Leah Kateb and Miguel Harichi as the runners-up and JaNa Craig and Kenny Rodriguez coming in third). The reunion was pretty rocky for Nicole and Kendall, and apparently, they broke up after the reunion aired. So what happened, and why are viewers so mad at Nicole, not Kendall?

It all boils down to a sexting scandal that happened before Kendall and Nicole ever paired up on the show — one that centered around Kendall sending explicit videos the night before he entered the villa — and during the reunion, it felt clear that Nicole was still frustrated about it, while Kendall seemed sort of traumatized by the publicity surrounding the videos. Over on Kendall’s Instagram post about the reunion, fans flocked to the comments section to lend their support for him, and not for Nicole. “No one deserves to be publicly embarrassed like you were,” user @briana_grace_x0o wrote. “I hope you grow from your mistakes and become a better person from it. Heart went out to you after watching the reunion.”

So what exactly did Nicole say during the reunion that made “Love Island USA” fans stick up for Kendall? After admitting that she felt Kendall was dishonest, Nicole clarified. “Obviously, the video is not okay. Nobody deserves that. Everybody in this room can agree it’s f**ked up,” Nicole said at the time. “However, I think if you say you love somebody in the moment, when you’re telling me about something, you need to be honest. Instead of saying it’s from years ago to someone you trusted — an ex-girlfriend — and then I find out two days later from JaNa that it was in the hotel room before you go on the show to someone on a dating app is crazy.”

People on social media really went to bat for Kendall over this. On X (formerly known as Twitter), @slayyytervamp wrote, “Not Nicole acting like the victim on the love island reunion while everyone’s defending Kendall for having something INSANELY traumatic happen to him right after getting off of the show is giving master manipulator.. she has such an evil spirit idc.” @TheDEVLinside agreed, saying, “Omg Nicole is being CRAZY on this love island reunion….. KENDALL HAD HIS SH** EXPOSED and she’s like ‘you lied to me’ WTF?” @HailtotheMe felt disgusted by Nicole’s behavior, writing, “Watching the love island reunion and Nicole is such an ugly person for turning Kendall’s trauma into her thing.” As for @billieroan, they felt baffled by their entire experience: “I didn’t expect to be on Kendall’s side when I hit play on this reunion.”

According to their own Instagram accounts, the damage done at the reunion was enough to split Nicole and Kendall, presumably for good. On their Instagram stories (via US Weekly), both reality stars shared their experiences and offered support to each other. Nicole revealed the split happened on August 20, writing, “On August 18th, Kendall and I agree our relationship was worth working on, and we were making plans for me to visit him in Dallas soon. However, on today, on August 20th, he called and ended things. While I understand an respect his decision, it’s hard to process this one. I opened up to him in the villa, and still love and care for him now. I’m struggling mentally and all I ask for is privacy during this time.”

As for Kendall, he clarified that he was the one to end things, but also explained the reasoning behind his decision on his own story. After saying it was “not healthy” for him and Nicole to continue their relationship, he continued, “I still love and care for Nicole. I’ve never developed such strong feelings for a woman in my life. I have no regrets for the connection I made with her in the villa and it was real.” In the end, Kendall asked “Love Island” fans to not attack Nicole, though they may not heed his words.

“Love Island USA” Season 6 is streaming on Peacock now.