SK STREAMING | S8 E. 5-9 LOVE ISLAND USA
PHOTO CREDIT | Peacock/Ben Symons
E5 brings us back again to what took place after the conversation between Melanie and Beatriz. Kenzie finally gets time to sit down with Corbin and he lets her know that she is his type. Melanie then chats with Sincere to complain about how Beatriz talked with her. The rest of the women also take time to talk with Corbin as well. Before the women go to bed, they realize that Corbin did try to get a number of kisses.
The next morning, the men make breakfast for the women as they get ready. When Kenzie chats with Aniya she finds out that Corbin is definitely not someone that is authentically trying to connect with a specific woman. They decide that they will do a meditation class and they get their fellow Islanders together to do it with them.
After Sincere talks with Aniya about not liking how Melanie asked for him to talk to her as a friend even though they are in a couple, she tells him that he needs to talk to Melanie. He shares how he felt with her about how she handled everything and they reach an understanding. Even Melannie and Beatriz talked with one another and came to an understanding between them!
With all the good vibes running around, a text is sent out letting them know that there will be a recoupling and the women get to choose. One guy will be vulnerable after the switch takes place. An additional secret text is sent to Corbin letting him know that he will actually get to pick first!
As the women get ready, we know that tonight’s first recoupling is definitely going to be interesting! Ariana Madix arrives and everyone is a bit tense. She reveals that the women will stay where they are, the men will stand up and that before the women choose, Corbin had a secret text and gets to choose first since he has only been in the house for 24 hours! Corbin chose Kenzie. Aniya stays with KC. Melanie selects Sincere. Kayda selects Zach. Beatriz picks Gabriel. Trinity is the last one to select and it is between Bryce and Sean. She chooses Bryce - I would have been shocked if she chose Sean. If Corbin hadn’t chosen first, I wonder if Kenzie would have chosen Sean? Sean gets dumped from the Villa.
E6 kicks off with everyone debriefing about the first dumping that took place with Sean as the night comes to an end. The next day, we see the Islanders enjoy breakfast as well as lounging to get to know one another in their couples. My favorite friendship at the moment is the one between Aniya and Sincere. The way that they support each other and provide advice to navigate their relationships is nice to see.
In the midst of the lounging and chatting, Kenzie gets a text and they know that they will have a slumber party. The Islanders get ready and are rocking lingerie, boxers, etc and assemble on the biggest bed that I have ever seen. The women must find their couple while they are blindfolded. Once they think they have found their guy, they must handcuff themselves to their person. Trinity found her man and didn’t go beyond him; however, Melanie bounced between Corbin and her man Sincere - this is going to cause some drama for sure!
While the game continues, we see that the 1st Bombshell has entered - Sol. The men see her but the women are blindfolded so they have no idea! Jen, the next Bombshell makes her appearance silently.
All the women correctly find their partner and as they each had their own paint colors, they realize there are 2 colors that aren’t accounted for! Sol and Jen make themselves known. Ariana Madix lets everyone know that the guys had a great time during their makeout sessions. While the girls were annoyed (did they forget that they had their sneaky kisses a few episodes back with Corbin)? Caleb emerges as the final bombshell this evening. Kenzie is a fan as well as Melanie. Melanie is jumping up and down and Sincere is definitely giving her looks - every time there is a man she is in her own world - how long will Sincere try to stay with her? The guys have to watch Caleb with their partner. He does offer Caleb the blindfold even though he opts to watch uncomfortably.
E7 continues with the sleepover. We also learn that Bryce knows Jen because they modeled together a few weeks/months back. The Bombshells talk to the Islanders. Sincere even mentions that the way Melanie, who he is coupled with has been reacting - he is open to talking with the Bombshells. All 3 Bombshells talk about the experience and their interests and the Islanders debrief on what happened.
Sincere lets Melanie know that the way she is moving doesn’t work for him and lets her know all the things that she did that night that were red flags to him. Aniya also talked with KC and lets him know that he was doing too much.
Bryce is calling out Melanie’s BS about “not knowing the difference between Corbin and Sincere.” Gabriel kisses Sol in Sol Ties so you know that that will be an issue. Melanie tries to tell KC that she didn’t know and he tells her that he’s not buying that. While Aniya and Sincere debrief, he lets her know that KC told him that Sol looks like his ex-girlfriend. Sincere and Sol also made out and he let Melanie know.
E8 the house is navigating the recent changes that have taken place. Melanie pulls Aniya aside and lets her know that Sincere kissed Sol and she acknowledges that some of her actions led to this. Now the house knows that this took place as well. We see all the couples having various shaky levels with one another.
Make sure to check out Love Island; Aftersun on Saturdays with Ciara Miller, star of Summer House will co-host this companion show alng with Tefi Pessoa (they are replacing Maura Higgins and Sophie Monk). You can catch these episodes on Sat at 9pm ET on Peacock. This show premieres for this season on Jun 6th and will drop each week. They will talk about eliminations, coupling, and have interviews. It definitely feels like the guys and girls are going through a lot of changes and apparently, there isn’t going to be a recoupling because the app had an issue.
Later that night, Melanie and Kenzie talked as Melanie wanted her to know that she pulled Corbin for a chat. Corbin also chatted it up with Bea. Kenzie is not happy about this. Bryce lets Trinity know that he may pull Kayda for a chat.
E9 brings the long awaited recoupling. Sincere pulls Melanie to have a chat with her as they all enjoy hanging out at night. He said he didn’t want her to feel bad and he is considering her and doesn’t want to end. She lets him know that she is hurt and that he can’t have his cake and eat it too. He promises this time that he will not kiss Sol again (although he did earlier), and she is willing to give him one more chance. Bryce talks to Kayda and she lets him know that they are friends. While they talked, Zach and Trinity talked saying how they do not see them being a thing - hopefully they can be happy in their couples.
They get a test from Ciara and Tefi who will be meeting the house for their next games. The game allows them to share truths some that are fun and light hearted, spicy, and hurtful. Sol ends the game crying as pies are hurled at her by the men for various actions - some being what she is supposed to do as someone coming into the house as a Bombshell. As the game comes to an end Tefi and Ciara say they look forward to seeing them when they come on their show Aftersun.
They decompress from the challenge and they get ready for a big night ahead where America votes for the recoupling. Ariana joins them and lets them know that she can now relay where Caleb, Sol, and Jen will be going. This repairing will break up 3 couples and will make 3 single people vulnerable. Caleb has been voted to couple up with Kenzie - this leaves Corbin single and vulnerable. Jen is partnered with Gabriel and then Sincere and Sol are now coupled up. Melanie wishes the new couple well and says that the voters saw something that she didn’t and she wishes them the best and is happy to be out of the triangle. With 3 singles remaining, Corbin gets to choose which one he would like to couple up. He selects Melanie. That leaves Bea who did try and talk with Corbin earlier. Bea was unapologetically herself and a Bronze Paralympian that bonded with the fellow Islanders and never shied away from sharing her opinion.
As the Islanders cry that she is leaving, she tells them it’s not like she is dying and that she loved being with them and wishes them well. Kayda is very hurt that she is leaving and says how much of an impact that she had on her. Even Gabriel is emotional about her leaving the Villa. She lets him know that he always treated her like a normal person and you can see that the 2 of them had a connection.
We’ll definitely be checking into tomorrow’s AfterSun to hear from Sean who was eliminated first, Bea, and then what happens immediately after!
WHO IS PAIRED AND SINGLE (as of the end of S8 E9)
Each row represents the couples that exist at the end of the episode (ie Aniya and KC).
PHOTO CREDIT | Peacock/Ben Symons
Remember that throughout this season, you can vote for your favorite Islanders or couples on Love Island USA. You’ll need to download the official Love Island USA app on the Apple Store or on Google Play. The viewer vote influences who couples up, who gets to stay in the Villa, and who goes home throughout the season. You can vote on the cast while episodes are airing and voting registration is open now.
PHOTO CREDIT | Peacock/Ben Symons
