It’s the midseason twist viewers have been waiting for: Casa Amor (bonus points if you read that in an Iain Stirling dramatic narration voice).
For those new to “Love Island,” Casa Amor is when the male and female islanders are split up for a week, with half being sent to a whole other villa as new contestants are brought in, aiming to couple up the Islanders. It’s also a test of the couples and their connections.
Last year, the girls were sent to Casa Amor, which led to a psych out moment where the contestants – and viewers for that matter – thought fan favorites Carthen and Vansteenberghe had been sent home early, plot twist: they were fine, and it led to their first date together.
This year, production decided to “do their big one” this year and pull out all the stops. The midseason shake-up didn’t just include splitting up the Islanders for a week, but also combining the event with the guys partaking in the Heart Rate Challenge with the new girls at Casa Amor, while the Villa girls watched it all go down on a TV in the fire pit, unknown to the guys.
That’s right, Casa Amor meets Heart Rate Challenge meets Live Movie Night.
The live feed back to the Villa is a concept that the original “Love Island” series in the UK has played with over the last few years; only the girls back home are watching their guys go on dates, not partaking in such a high-stakes game.
The first episode of Casa Amor has brought in six new girls to Fiji: Alannah Keyser, Amora Robinson, Parmida Keshani, Jaiden Bacciocco, Sydney Eugene and Tierra Davis.
Three of the new girls also have Southern California ties. Tierra, 25, was born and raised in Los Angeles and now lives in Inglewood, where she also works as a nanny. Jaiden, 22, is from Newbury Park and is a recent graduate from Arizona State. Finally, Alannah, 21, is from Miami, Florida, but she currently attends the University of California, where she is a full-time film student.
Sunday night’s episode also revealed that the Villa girls are getting twice as many men joining them this week for Casa Amor. That’s right: 12 new guys are coming to Fiji; Carl Schmidt, Chandlar Wilson, Chay Nehra, Corey Sawyer Jr, Dylan Wrona, Gal Tshnieder, Ryan Ten Hulscher, Ronnie Gunter, Keyon Harry, Kyle Greene, Tino Ellis and Trae Taylor.
While we’ll have to wait until Monday night’s episode to learn more about this new batch of guys, two of them have Southern California ties. Dylan, who is 24, and Gal, who is 29, both reside in Los Angeles. Additionally, Chay Nehra, who is 27, resides in San Diego.
The Monday, June 22, episode will also be one for the books as it will be shown in movie theaters nationwide as part of a limited screening event. As of now, Southern California will have four movie theaters playing the episode at 6 p.m. in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Other Islanders with connections to Southern California we’ve gotten to know already this season include OGs Bryce Dettloff and Melanie Moreno, who both call Los Angeles their home. Bombshells Jen Terry and Sol Dean, who entered the Villa together, also call the area their home.
Sol is originally from Orange County, but she has since moved to Los Angeles, where she’s a waitress and works at the front desk at a gym. While Jen is originally from Florida, she moved to Los Angeles, where she’s a model.
Other California contestants include OGs Beatriz Hatz from San Diego and KC Chandler from Fresno, who is a nursing assistant. Beatriz is a professional athlete who is notably a Team USA Paralympic athlete for Track & Field. She competed in both the Paralympic Games 2020 in Tokyo in 2021 as well as the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, where she won the bronze medal for the Women’s Long Jump T64.
New episodes of “Love Island USA” air at 6 p.m. PT every day but Wednesday on Peacock.