Love Island USA‘s Kenzie Annis stood behind her decision to explore multiple men at once in the villa.
During the Tuesday, June 30, episode of the show, Kenzie confessed to Dylan Wrona that she secretly had a makeout session with Gal Tshnieder. She defended her decision to explore her feelings for Gal — despite it upsetting Dylan.
“To me, a kiss is like a handshake,” Kenzie told Aniya Harvey the next morning. “I am just seeing if there is chemistry.”
While Dylan cried when he heard the news, he ultimately hooked up with Kenzie hours later. Their future remained unclear, however, as things have gotten tense in the villa — especially coming off of Casa Amor. When the experiment came to an end, some of the Islanders were at odds with host Ariana Madix having to step in to break up an argument.
“It’s a lot of emotions. It’s a really hard night tonight,” she told the group. “It’s hard for the girls to come from Casa. It’s obviously gonna be really hard for you guys as well.”
She continued: “So if we could squash it now, that way we can get to everybody and we can find out how everyone’s feeling.”
This isn’t the first time Ariana has had to step in. Earlier this month, Ariana addressed claims that voting was rigged in the villa. The host
replied to an Instagram comment after Caleb McDaniel and Sol Dean were not announced as a top couple during the Thursday, June 18, episode of the show — despite an online campaign for the season 8 bombshells.
“Unfortunately, they were not in the top 4,” Ariana wrote in response to a message that read, “They @loveislandusa messing up the show.” Ariana also “liked” a comment which stated that “legally” production “can’t tamper with results” despite the speculation on social media.
Fans were left frustrated when Sol and Gabriel Vasconcelos ended up dumped from the villa following a group vote. This came after America chose their favorite couples — and the bottom three were left at risk of elimination, leaving the remaining girls to decide which guy went home and vice versa.
This isn’t the first time Ariana has had to step in to debunk rumors. In June 2025, Ariana slammed the insinuation that the show was “rigged,” telling The Wrap, “You can have whatever opinions you want to have about the show itself, but I will tell you: Don’t you start making up conspiracies.”
She continued: “I’m not a conspiracy theorist, so I’m the debunker.”
At the time, Ariana also denied that any Islanders were coming into the villa with a plan on how to win.
“As much as someone might try to gamify the show for themselves while they’re in there as an Islander, you cannot for 24 hours a day,” she added. “It’s nearly impossible to really be able to fully keep that mask on at all times.”
Ariana encouraged viewers to show their enthusiasm by voting, saying, “If America does feel a certain way about certain Islanders, they do get their say. So if someone is trying to super gamify everything, and if they find out that they’re in the bottom, they’ll be like, ‘Wait, oh.’”
New episodes of Love Island USA are released six days a week — except for Wednesdays — on Peacock.
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