Love Island USA 2025 just delivered one of the most dramatic twists in the show’s entire history.
Here we examine the fate of islanders Olandria Carthen and Nic Vansteenberghe, who under the new rules should have been sent packing.
It looked like Nic and Olandria had been kicked off the show as part of the unbelievable Casa Amor twist…[/caption]
… That is, until Olandria made an unprecedented proposition[/caption]
At the end of the massive Casa Amor twist and mandatory recoupling for all contestants, both Olandria Carthen and Nic Vansteenberghe were left single.
Under the new rules, this scenario meant they both should have been immediately eliminated from the show.
This was a departure from previous seasons, where islanders could be loyal to their partners and remain safe from eviction.
But as part of the new Casa Amor twist, everyone was forced to pick a partner from the new arrivals — and anyone left single was supposed to be brutally dumped from the villa.
Olandria was left without a partner when Zak Srakaew — who she initially coupled up with — chose to recouple with Amaya Espinal.
Nic also found himself single after a series of recouplings in the main villa left him without a partner.
Clarke Carraway chose to couple up with Taylor Williams, which left Nic vulnerable and ultimately dumped.
As both Olandria and Nic packed their bags and were on their way out of the famous villa, it looked like the episode was ending with emotional goodbyes and from their fellow islanders.
Olandria expressed her disappointment in — at least what seemed to be — an exit interview, saying through tears: “I wanna find love so bad, y’all. I really do.”
But in a surprising twist, the final moments of the episode revealed that her Love Island USA story wasn’t over yet.
As Nic exited the villa, rolling his suitcase along behind him, a car pulled over outside.
Olandria was inside — a clearly-shocked Nic exclaimed “What the f***?” before running to join her.
As he got in the car, he asked: “What are you doing here?”
This cliffhanger left viewers questioning what would happen next, as it seemed neither of them was truly out of the game.
The following episode picked up with Olandria and Nic arriving at a remote, romantically lit location, where they had the chance to catch up and discuss everything that had happened during Casa Amor.
The rest of the islanders were shocked when they woke up to find the pair back in the game and coupled up[/caption]
Olandria shared with Nic that Cierra had been exploring a connection with Elan, while Nic explained how Taylor ended up single and Clarke had shown interest in him, which led to his own ‘elimination’.
But during their conversation, they received a text message presenting them with an ultimatum — they could either leave the show for good or couple up and return to the villa as a new pair.
Nic admitted that he had always liked Olandria and was open to seeing where things could go between them.
They decided to take the opportunity, agreeing to couple up and extend their stay on Love Island USA.
In the middle of the night, Olandria and Nic quietly reentered the villa, surprising the rest of the islanders when they woke up to find the pair back in the game and coupled up.
