‘Love Island USA' Week 2 Recap: Nic and Cierra Have Sex for '25 Seconds' and More Moments (Updating Daily)
Love Island USA's Nic and Cierra were the latest season 7 couple to have sex on screen — even though it only lasted 25 seconds.
During the Sunday, June 15, episode of the dating show — which airs daily with the exception of Wednesdays — Ace Greene, Amaya Espinal, Austin Shepard, Chelley Bissainthe, Cierra Ortega, Hannah Fields, Huda Mustafa, Iris Kendall, Jalen Brown, Jeremiah Brown, Pepe Garcia, Nic Vansteenberghe, Olandria Carthen, Taylor Williams and Charlie Georgiou were in for a surprise when host Ariana Madix announced a recoupling with a twist.
Several pairings, including Taylor and Olandria, Huda and Jeremiah and Hannah and Charlie, were actively trying to work out their issues when they were told America would be breaking up three existing couples to pair new bombshells Pepe, Jalen and Iris with an islander.
What ensued next could only be described as a group crash out. islanders fell apart as they watched Jeremiah be coupled up with Iris, Hannah with Pepe and Olandria and Jalen. Things only got more tense when Ariana told the group that they will all be voting to send one of the just-dumped islanders — Huda, Charlie and Taylor — home.
'Love Island USA' Couples Status Check: Who's Still Together, Who Broke Up After Leaving the Villa?
Amaya — to Ace's amusement — started crying and initially refused to cast a vote as if she was casting a ballot in The Hunger Games. Huda seemed emotionally zoned out as both Ace and Nic voted for her to go home because they claimed she wasn't being genuine by closing her and Jeremiah off one week into the show.
It was ultimately Charlie who was eliminated (after first making a plea to the other contestants as if he was on Big Brother). Hannah, despite several makeout sessions with newcomer Pepe, was distraught. She was even seen sobbing on the bed while holding a photo of her and Charlie.
Luckily, this is only the start to week 2 for those watching at home. (The islanders are halfway through their second week in Fiji but for the sake of timeline, Us will be tracking the events based on when they air on Peacock.)
As the group will grapple with next steps after that shocking elimination, Us Weekly is keeping you up to date with live highlights so keep scrolling:
Huda kicked off Friday's episode by setting her sights on Pepe — despite him already being paired off with Hannah. While Pepe admitted he 'felt bad' for Huda, Hannah was more upset that her fellow islander didn't give her a warning before flirting with her guy. Huda and Hannah ultimately had a conversation but not before almost everyone in the villa chose a side — and it wasn't Huda's.
Speaking of trouble in the villa, TJ and Adreina's arrival created some rifts. TJ immediately connected with Iris, who made out with him and told him she saw Jeremiah more like a friend than a possible connection. Jeremiah seemed to feel the same way because by the end of the episode he was packing on the PDA with Adreina.
There were also cracks beginning to form with Austin and Amaya. While she was thrilled to be paired up with someone who liked her, Austin started to worry that she was getting 'too intense' too soon. Ace couldn't hold back a laugh while Austin pointed out how Amaya was acting like they were 'six years strong with two kids' during Friday's challenge. Amaya, however, was not aware that Austin was reconsidering their connection.
Then there was the challenge that was too gross to even speak about. But it did create some jealousy — especially for Nic and Cierra. This might come as a surprise to viewers since Nic revealed that he and Cierra finally had sex. He described it as the 'best 25 seconds' of his life but admitted he 'had to apologize' for Cierra because it was 'so good but so short.'
If you count Huda and Jeremiah's hookup and Hannah and Pepe's close encounter, that now marks three couples that got hot and heavy two weeks into the season. The sneak peek for Sunday's episode teased that the drama is only just getting started as America has another chance to vote — this time for their favorite guy and girl in the villa.
Most Shocking TV Moments of 2024: From Bridgerton's Gender-Swap Shakeup to That 'Monsters' Aftermath
Following Huda nearly being voted out of the villa, she was warned by multiple islanders that she was on thin ice moving forward. She promised to prioritize herself — only to pull Jeremiah for a chat that same night. The exes attempted to get closure before Jeremiah officially started to explore his connection with Iris.
The rest of the villa was happy with their new — or old — couples and there was finally momentary peace in Fiji. That lasted only a few hours because the next morning Megan Thee Stallion dropped in for a chat and to host a challenge. After sharing her hot takes on the season so far, the singer announced that the girls and guys would be competing and the winners would get to meet a new bombshell.
This inspired a challenge that consisted of twerking (or whatever it was that Taylor tried to do), doing the limbo and solving a puzzle. The girls won and were introduced to newcomer T.J. but the boys weren't left empty handed. Andreina walked in right after that with her eyes set on either Jeremiah or Ace.
In the sneak peek for Friday's episode, T.J. was seen getting cozy with Cierra while Andreina had a conversation with Nic. Andreina also shared a moment with Pepe, which left Hannah uneasy. But the biggest shock of the night was Iris making out with T.J. after just being paired off with Jeremiah.
This week's episodes should come with a drinking game: Take a shot every time someone says America. Instead though, the episode picked back up with Jeremiah and Huda still fighting about the pancakes, the recoupling and whether or not they even want to stay together.
The rest of the villa was having more fun either building new connections or judging Huda and Jeremiah. Sometimes both.
Austin found himself surprised by Amaya, who he called a "breath of fresh air" as Chelley and Ace continued their little flirtation. Olandria was just as giddy — but about Taylor instead of Jalen. She even admitted she would have left with Taylor if he was dumped one episode prior.
The next day was a new level of awkward as the islanders contemplated having to spend another week hearing Huda and Jeremiah complain about each other. Jeremiah wanted to start over with Huda by suggesting they try to be friends, which she didn't take very well.
In fact, most of the day was Huda either breaking out into an argument with him or bursting into tears at the sight of Jeremiah and Iris together. (And for those keeping track at home, Austin now knows about Huda's daughter but she doesn't know that he knows!)
Luckily, Ariana returned to the villa at just the right time to shake things up (and make Austin question whether he could couple up with Ariana). The latest recoupling challenge involved the girls standing behind individual doors and choosing the name of one guy they wanted to have open the door. If the guy who approached their door was their choice, they would be a match.
The recoupling started out as expected with Nic and Cierra still together and Pepe and Hannah acknowledging that viewers were right to pair them off together (you're welcome!).
This is where things took a turn though. Austin ended up choosing Amaya over Chelley — and they are a match. This left Chelley open to coupling up with Ace, who felt the same way. Jalen was the first islander left single and vulnerable when Olandria didn't leave the door open for him because she wanted Taylor, who was also on the same page.
The final choice then became Jeremiah standing in front of Iris and Huda's doors. In a shocking twist, he went for Iris' door. She left her door open for him — but so did Huda who had to hear Jeremiah explain why he wanted to start fresh with Iris.
The islanders were then told to choose who they wanted to see stay in the villa: Jalen or Huda. All of the women (even Iris!) chose Huda while a few of the men (Pepe, Nic, Austin and Jeremiah) chose Jalen. Even Ace opted for Huda but based on his reaction, it wasn't for her as much as it probably was for the drama.
All the Behind-the-Scenes Secrets and Production Revelations You Didn't Know About 'Love Island'
Picking up immediately where the recoupling left off, Jeremiah and Huda were processing their split — separately. Jeremiah ended up at odds with Nic and Ace, who accused him of 'scamming' and being a 'fraud' in his relationship with Huda. Jeremiah tried to defend his actions when what he should have been doing was comforting Huda. That was the nail in the coffin for the couple who spent the rest of the episode at odds — but more on that later.
Jeremiah only had Austin on his side while the other men either had nothing to say or were worried about his future in the villa. Huda, meanwhile, was breaking down in person and in confessionals about Jeremiah not checking up on her. He even heard her cursing him out in the shower, which set the mood for a very difficult night now that Jeremiah is sharing a bed with Iris instead.
Before the rest of the islanders were woken up, the new couples (Iris and Jeremiah, Pepe and Hannah and Olandria and Jalen) were whisked away to a beach where they got to enjoy some snorkeling, massages and deep conversation about their individual futures together.
Hannah put her uncontrollable sobbing over Charlie's exit on the backburner, which allowed her to explore her feelings for Pepe. By the end of the episode, she was now saying she saw 'more' in Pepe and wasn't ruling out a romance.
Back at the villa, Chelley and Austin were once again flirting right in front of Austin. He could have used that time to plan a spontaneous date for Chelley (like she asked) but instead they sat down for another conversation about how he didn't want to be in a love triangle. Based on that sneak peek for the next episode, Austin might get his wish sooner rather than later.
The reminder of the episode was Huda and Jeremiah's relationship seemingly coming to an end. After Jeremiah returned in great spirits following his date with Iris, Huda snapped and called him out in front of everyone. She might not have heard Jeremiah say she should have been sent home but she did catch wind of him admitting he wants to explore other relationships.
Huda threw out some curse words, she flipped Jeremiah off and she had an awkward conversation with Iris. That all accumulated in a conversation where Huda accused Jeremiah of playing the victim and being selfish, which signified the end of a relationship — at least in Us' eyes.
The preview for the next episode confirmed there's another recoupling happening in the nick of time.
The second week (of episodes) started with Hannah admitting to Charlie that she kissed Pepe. Charlie tried to be supportive of Hannah exploring her options but in typical Love Island USA form, Charlie got even by seeing which women he could form connections with as well. He specifically zeroed in on newcomers Iris and Amaya, with Amaya not taking the bait as she is close with Hannah.
Hannah had one more steamy makeout session with Pepe before realizing he reminded her of her physical connection with exes compared to her romantic bond with Charlie. After a meaningful chat, Hannah and Charlie were recommitted to a future together, which America didn't see before locking in their votes (but more on that later).
An undercooked pancake was nearly the straw that broke the camel's back for Jeremiah and Huda who had been arguing over her reactions to him kissing other women, including Olandria, in challenges. Still, the twosome slept together shortly before the already-infamous recoupling with America's votes.
Austin, for his part, told Chelley he was insecure about her connection with Ace — which only made Chelley want Ace more as he is more lined up more with her spontaneous nature. It didn't take long for Ace, however, to remind Chelley once again that he was open to any new connection that could happen when more bombshells entered the villa, which was just code for he wasn't looking to commit to Chelley.
There was also Olandria considering a future with Jalen. After having to kiss just about every guy during the woodcutting challenge, Olandria had a moment with Jalen that made her unsure whether they were moving too fast on the physical front.
This all accumulated into what some viewers are referring to as the most "traumatizing" recoupling where the contestants got their first glimpse into what fans think of the season so far.
The June 15 episode ended with the following couples still together and on the show: Ace and Amaya, Austin and Chelley, Cierra and Nic, Hannah and Pepe, Iris and Jeremiah, Olandria and Jalen. The contestants that are single and vulnerable are Taylor and Huda.
New episodes of Love Island USA stream on Peacock daily at 9 p.m. ET. Us Weekly will be updating this post with the biggest developments.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘People Are Going To See Something They've Never Seen Before': How Pixar's Next Hit Film Was Made
Fans of laughing out loud one moment and crying into your popcorn bucket the next are in for a treat with Pixar's latest release. Elio is the newest offering from the award-winning animation studio, centring around a lonely boy who becomes obsessed with the idea of being abducted by aliens – and gets more than he bargained for when his dream comes true. As has come to be expected from the studio that gave us the likes of Inside Out, Coco and Toy Story 3, Elio dives into some pretty hefty themes, exploring everything from loneliness and grief to toxic masculinity, all with Pixar's signature sense of humour and adventure to keep younger viewers as gripped as everyone else in the cinema. In the lead-up to the film's release, we spoke to directors Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi about how sci-fi horror had a surprising influence on Elio, creating something people have 'never seen before' with their unique take on space and releasing an original film in the current sea of sequels and live-action remakes at Walt Disney Studios… Right at the beginning of the film, there's a key scene soundtracked by Talking Heads' Once In A Lifetime. Why was that song chosen, and how easy was it to get? Madeline Sharafian: That scene and that song were in the film from the beginning that Domee and I started. That montage of Elio going out to the beach every day, desperately trying to be abducted, was almost the way that we explored his character as we changed his motivations to wanting to be abducted by aliens. And I think the song was [Domee's] idea of just a way to showcase that he's stuck in this cycle, and he wants to get out. It was a great idea. Domee Shi: Yeah, I always loved that song, I always felt like David Byrne kind of gave off alien boy vibes as well. And the way that the song starts always sounded kind of synthy and celestial and spacey in some way. I felt like there was a connection between Byrne and Elio, and it felt like a cool needle drop choice to put in this montage where we're introduced to Elio's obsession with getting abducted, but being unable to, every single day that went by. MS: It helped a lot that Pete Docter and Jim Morris, our company leadership, really like that song. So I do think that kind of helped us hang onto it and get it for the final, and we're very grateful that we got to keep it. It adds so much to the scene. DS: There was one moment where we did try another song… MS: Oh god, yeah… DS: I was like, 'what about Beastie Boys' Intergalactic?'. And then we tried that for a minute and we were like, 'no, I think we miss Talking Heads', and we went back to that. And also I feel like I haven't really seen [Once In A Lifetime] used a lot in media, in like TV or movies, whereas Intergalactic is used quite a lot. I love that song, though! But yeah… Something else people are going to pick up on is Elio's eyepatch. It really works as a plot device later in the film, but was that always going to be there, or were other ideas explored? MS: It was always an eyepatch, I'm pretty sure. I mean, the eyepatch was there in Adrian Molina's original version [Coco writer and director Adrian Molina originally conceived the idea of Elio to helm the film himself, but left the project halfway through to focus on Coco 2, at which point Madeline and Domee took over as lead directors]. When we took the story, we loved [the eyepatch], just as a way that it supports Elio's feeling of otherness, when he's on Earth, he feels even more out of place. And when he goes to space, all of a sudden, he looks like a dashing space sci-fi captain with this cape and his eyepatch, and the aliens love it, it's like '[you have] one eye, [I have] one eye, this is amazing'. All of a sudden it's accepted and loved. DS: Yeah, it's been great seeing the response to Elio's eyepatch online and with audience members that have come up to us and thanked us for including a kid with an eyepatch – it is something that kids do deal with, and it makes them feel othered. And it sucks! To have a sci-fi hero in a Pixar movie sporting one and looking cool I think is very empowering. Let's talk about the look of the film – sci-fi is a huge genre and even within the Disney and Pixar canon, we've been to space a few times. How did you decide what your version of space was going to look like, and what was going to set the Elio universe apart? MS: Pixar has done two sci-fi movies already [2008's Wall-E and 2022's Lightyear] and Harley Jessup, our production designer, really wanted to shoot for a version that we've never seen. So, he knew that the Communiverse needed to be this sort of beautiful almost Utopia, that there would be aliens from all over the universe gathering there, and almost designed it, one of his very first pieces of production art that I saw that I fell in love with, it was kind of glittering in the sky, almost like a disco ball – the way the lights shimmer on it were like a disco ball. We ended up taking that and putting it in the [finished film], we were like, 'we need to hang onto that'. So, it's bright, it's colourful, it's also softer and round, which I do think is very different from other sci-fi movies. And everything – even the technology – feels very organic, and kind of squishy and alive, which I think gives it a very unique identity. DS: Yeah, all of it points to Elio just truly feeling like he belongs there, and that he doesn't want to leave when he first arrives. And I also love that Harley challenged our character designer to design non-humanoid-looking aliens, and kind of look at deep-sea, underwater creatures for reference. We went with designs that you couldn't possibly do with humans in a costume, right? MS: Yeah, because live-action, especially some of the classics are a little bit limited by that. Like, the alien in Alien is a guy. Really awesome, though, but we were like, 'we're in an animation, we can do whatever we want, so let's make sure that our aliens are taking advantage of what we can do'. Some parts of the film are quite intense and surprisingly quite scary – especially for a Disney film. Was there much pushback because of that? DS: I mean, we were excited to explore other aspects of the sci-fi genre that maybe you don't usually see in a Disney and Pixar movie. We're both sci-fi horror fans, and I think there's a good balance between scary and fun – like a fun scary. There's a sweet spot that you can hit, and we tried to do that with all the scenes with Elio's clone, really pushing the clone's friendliness, but also upping the weirdness and the horror surrounding him, from Olga's point of view where she's slowly realising, 'am I living with a clone?'... MS: …which is a pretty crazy realisation for her! Especially since she starts off the movie as a sceptic of aliens, she doesn't really believe that they're out there, so to take her to becoming a believer… we almost talked about her B-story as in, 'she's in a totally different kind of movie', she is in a pod person movie, and I thought it was fun that we treated her sections almost like a different genre, a little bit. DS: And you know… we'll fine-tune the execution of it, just to make sure that the music isn't too crazy and the sound effects don't give you too much of a heart attack and we release the tension immediately with a joke or a gag or something. But I don't know – I remember being a kid and loving movies like A Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline, where there is like a fun scare. I feel like the original Monsters Inc. taps into that a little bit, too. Elio is coming out at an interesting time for Walt Disney Studios, where there area lot of films coming up that are either sequels, live-action remakes and other ideas based on existing IP, so it's great to see an original story coming from the studio, too. Is that something that's important to you both as filmmakers? MS: Yeah! DS: Definitely. MS: And it's important to Pixar, too, I think. Even though we release our own sequels [Inside Out 2 was the biggest film of 2024, with follow-ups to Toy Story, Coco and The Incredibles currently in the works at the studio], we do talk a lot about how important originality is to us, just as a filmmaking culture, we have a lot of originals coming [Pixar's next release, Hoppers, is slated for 2026, followed by Gatto in 2027] and I would say, whether they're sequels or originals, we hold ourselves to the same standard for both. And our main goal is just to make incredible movies, and amazing stories. I love originals – but Toy Story 3 is one of my favourite movies that Pixar has ever made! So, as long as we're holding that standard of storytelling, hopefully we can make any kind of movie great. But it is exciting to have an original coming out. I think we're the only original [Disney film] coming out this summer, which is so wild [the studio also has sequels to Freaky Friday and Tron coming later in 2025, with live-action remakes of Snow White and Lilo & Stitch having also been released earlier in the year, while Marvel projects have included Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts* (which featured a main cast of existing characters) and the new reboot of The Fantastic Four]. I hope people enjoy [Elio] and they're going to see something they've never seen before – and that's really exciting, and worth seeing in a theatre. Elio is in cinemas now. Watch the trailer for yourself below: Lilo & Stitch Remake Director Addresses Backlash Over The New Film's Changed Ending 'Sobbing, Screaming, Traumatised': Frozen's Josh Gad Opens Up About Olaf's Axed Death Scene Snow White Remake Faces Yet More Criticism Over CGI Characters


Washington Post
27 minutes ago
- Washington Post
What to Stream: 'The Bear,' Lorde, 'Smoke,' 'A Minecraft Movie,' 'Nosferatu' and Nelly and Ashanti
The Jack Black-led movie phenomenon 'A Minecraft Movie' and Lorde's fourth studio album, 'Virgin,' are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you. Also among the streaming offerings worth your time, as selected by The Associated Press' entertainment journalists : All 10 episodes of season four of FX's 'The Bear' drop Wednesday, Nelly and Ashanti get their own reality show and Bill Skarsgård leads an update of the 1922 silent vampire classic 'Nosferatu.'
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Steam's store now lets you search for games by accessibility features like 'narrated game menus' and 'adjustable difficulty', and more than 5,000 games have already added their accessibility details to the database
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Back in April, Valve announced the Steam store would start highlighting accessibility features on games' store pages. And now, it has. Not only can you see them in the sidebar beneath the controller support section for selected games, you can also search the store by individual accessibility features. "This update comes after gathering valuable feedback from developers as well as players with disabilities," Valve says in its blog post announcing the news, "and over 5,000 applications have added details about their accessibility support (with more developers updating their games each day)." On Steam's search page you can select "narrow by accessibility feature" to bring up a bunch of toggles like "playable without timed input" and "color alternatives". If you know anyone who has ever bought a puzzle game and had to refund it because the puzzles demand you can tell colors apart but won't let you tweak what those colors are, you'll know why the latter's important. Some accessibility features, like "save anytime" and "adjustable text size" are good for everyone to know in advance—they're just nice things to have. A variety of games, mostly newer ones, have already added accessibility features to their store page. Baldur's Gate 3, for instance, boasts 10 of them, from "adjustable difficulty" to "playable without timed input". Here's a full list of the options, with explanations of exactly what they mean. Gameplay Adjustable Difficulty: Players can adjust gameplay difficulty. Save Anytime: Players can save gameplay using both automatic and manual saves. Saving can be performed at any point in the game. Visual Adjustable Text Size: Players can adjust text size. (In-game text, menu text, character dialog text, subtitle text) Subtitle Options: Players have options to customize the display of subtitles for all spoken content and essential audio information. Color Alternatives: Gameplay doesn't rely on colors to communicate important information, or players have an option to adjust colors used for distinguishing information. Camera Comfort: Players have an option to adjust or disable uncomfortable camera movement such as screen shaking, camera bob, or motion blur, or the game doesn't feature these effects. Audio Custom Volume Controls: Players can adjust the volume of the audio. Different types of audio can be muted independently from each other. Narrated Game Menus: Players can listen to game menus with narrated audio. Stereo Sound: Players can identify how far to the left or right sounds are coming from. Surround Sound: Players can identify how far in any direction sounds are coming from. Input Keyboard Only Option: Players can play the game with just a keyboard and no other additional input mechanisms such as a mouse or controller. Mouse Only Option: Players can play the game with just a mouse and no other additional input mechanisms such as a keyboard or controller. Touch Only Option: Players can play the game with just touch controls and no other additional input mechanisms such as a mouse, keyboard or controller. Playable without Timed Input: Players have an option to adjust gameplay to not require precisely timed button presses ("quick time events") or gameplay does not require such button presses. Text-to-speech: Text chat can be narrated out loud in real time. Speech-to-text communications: Voice chat can be read as a text transcript in real time. Baldur's Gate 3 romance: Who to pursueBaldur's Gate 3 multiplayer: How co-op worksBaldur's Gate 3 endings: For better or worseBaldur's Gate 3 multiclass builds: Coolest combosBest RPGs: The greatest you can play now