Featured Image Credit: Peacock
Topics: Love Island, Reality TV
Marissa Dow
Hello Islanders, I have some interesting news (oh, how I miss hearing Ariana Madix dropping one-liners like that in the best dress I’ve ever seen). I know it’s been too long since we’ve seen America’s favorite man-children flirting in Fiji, but you remember Kendall Washington don’t you? He was the 27-year-old medical supplies salesman living in Dallas, Texas who was wearing Hannah’s makeup as a mask for a week. Then he partnered up with bombshell Nicole and it was happily ever after ever since. Well, except for the part where Kendall almost lost Nicole twice (once for not letting her explore her connection with Miguel and then for twisting on her during the Stick and Twist challenge after making such a huge stink about her alleged disloyalty). It was pretty much smooth sailing from there since Nicole almost entirely overlooked Kendall’s weirdo behavior in Casa Amor, and then ended season 6 by exchanging a (somewhat forced) I love yous. But has the love gone since the Islanders returned to the mainland? A thorough investigation into whether or not Nicole and Kendall are still together awaits.
Probably not, if her very selective social media activity is any indication. On August 1, 2024 (just a week and a half after the finale in which she and Kendall placed fourth) Nicole wrote on Instagram Stories “While Love Island was an amazing experience, things have not been easy since leaving the villa. There’s much more to share on what has happened since coming home, and for now, I’ve been taking time to process — these are real feelings and my real life.” It’s obvious that at least one of the things that has happened was an explicit video of Kendall being leaked across the internet, which would cause strain on any new relationship. Nicole choosing to include that there’s “much more to share” implies there’s more to the story of what’s going on with them than the video (or perhaps there are deeper unknown layers to that tricky situation) which has caused Nicole to not feel very celebratory about the Love Island experience she was crying happy tears over just days before. In her only feed post since the finale, Nicole included one singular couple shot with Kendall as the measly eighth slide in her Villa photo dump. Even weirder, Kendall has been seen out and about, making appearances with Aaron, Kaylor, Serena, Kordell, and Rob, but Nicole has been nowhere in sight. Doesn’t seem promising.
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Someone Kendall once had “confidence and trust” in leaked a sexually explicit video of Kendall that he had sent to them privately. Revenge porn is casually becoming far too common for my liking, TBH. Kendall handled the incident with as much grace as possible, taking to Instagram to share that thought it was “unfortunate that [the video is] no longer private” the situation “is what it is” and he was still “so grateful for [his] Love Island experience.” While his resilience is impressive, no one should have to deal with that as a consequence of their job.