‘Love Island USA’ Host Ariana Madix on Nic and Cierra, Taylor and Olandria — and the 1 Dumping That Shocked Her

She’s pulling back the curtain on “Love Island USA” Season 7 — so far.

Ariana Madix is well into her second season as host of “Love Island USA” and has been able to witness some of this summer’s most dramatic and wildly viral moments involving the islanders out in Fiji.

In an interview with TODAY.com just before Episode 25 dropped, Madix gave a peek behind the curtain of what goes on in the villa — plus, her takes on Nic and Cierra, Olandria and Taylor, and the dumping from the island that shocked her the most.

So how involved are you on the production side of things? Do you get to decide when new bombshells are coming in, when to change up the rules for Casa, like we did this year?

No, I just hear about things maybe a couple days beforehand. Or, you know, of course, if there’s something that’s planned way in advance, I’ll hear about it, and I can say, “Wow, I love that.” Or, “Hmm, I’m not sure about that,” but it doesn’t matter. I’m not in charge.

Let’s talk about Nic and Olandria. Do you think we’ll be seeing a return of them later this season? I know on “Aftersun,” you mentioned that you saw some chemistry between them.

Yeah, I think the chemistry, when you watch that kiss in Soul Ties, was palpable from watching it on the screen. When they said that they didn’t feel any sparks, I was very confused because I feel like I saw sparks. That being said, you know, I think, honestly, I just want both of them to find whatever it is that they’re looking for. And I’m so happy that whatever it took to get Olandria a little bit away from thinking about Taylor, I think is a positive.

I mean, that being said, I love Cierra and Nic together, so I don’t want to speak ill of that relationship, because I think that is a really good relationship, too. But you know, who knows? You never know what’s going to happen day to day in that villa. Things happen so fast.

What do you think about some of the other couples on the show, like Chelley and Ace, and Zak and Amaya?

I mean, I feel like Chelley and Ace, they took so long to actually couple up, which was interesting, because I felt like they had had this flirtation for so long, but you know, watching the episode with the heart-rate challenge, you see that Chelley still wants to remain open to Chris, so that’s going to be interesting. I feel like Ace might be getting a little bit of a taste of his own medicine there, because he was really putting on the pressure when Chelley was with Austin. And now Chelley’s with Ace, and Chris is putting on the pressure, so he feel knows what it feels like to be on the other side of that.

Amaya and Zach. I think they’re so cute. I love getting to see these little moments of them talk about cats or, you know, hula hooping in Casa. I just love the slice-of-life moments in the villa that we get to see because to me, that’s when you really get to see what everyone’s like around each other. So I hope we get to see more of that and more of them as well.

Let’s talk about the virality of it all. “Love Island” has been blowing up absolutely everywhere. Do you see these viral moments as they’re happening, or are you just as surprised as we are?

I mean, I watch all the episodes, of course, and then you never know what’s going to gain traction online, what’s going to be something that people really connect with. And so with the “mommy-mamacita” moment, I feel like watching the episode, I thought that was a hilarious moment, but then when it took on a life of its own online, it made it even more fun. And I feel like I’m constantly reposting people doing that audio now, because it’s just too funny.

Megan Thee Stallion came on the show! Let’s talk about that iconic and surprising collaboration, as well as whether any other influential figures might be fans of the show.

It’s funny, because I feel like every year, we find more and more influential figures that are big fans. Or, even right now, with Olivia Rodrigo and Ed Sheeran doing the “Love Island” audio — I’m pretty sure Ed Sheeran communicates via email, so he probably does not watch “Love Island USA” — but to have Olivia explaining to him what is “Love Island USA,” to me, is a moment that I wish I could be a fly on the wall for because I can only imagine how funny that is. And Megan Thee Stallion, is someone I’ve been a huge fan of for a very long time. I’ve gone to see her live performing so many times, and getting to meet her, she is an absolute delight of a person. She has the most beautiful energy, and I’m in love with her.

Viewers didn’t get to see the deliberation process when Hannah and Jeremiah left the villa, which Iain told us earlier was the most shocking thing he’d seen all season long. What might be a little bit of the process behind that deliberation? If you heard anything, would you be able to speak on that?

I wasn’t in the villa that day, so I wasn’t watching, you know, the monitors of what they were talking about. But considering that, it was a big moment, and when they’re editing that episode and putting it together, my major guesstimation is that they really wanted to keep in other conversations that they felt were really important to the storyline. So maybe more showing him or other people talking earlier in the episode about things, and then maybe after the fact, they wanted to really be able to show more of what it was like when everyone was saying goodbye and stuff like that. And if the deliberation was redundant or boring or fairly inconsequential or not really different to what they were talking about outside of the actual deliberation, there’s really no point in showing it.

I know you didn’t want to say earlier who you’re rooting for this season, but is there a couple that maybe you’re not as excited to see on your screen?

I guess … they’re not a couple as of this point that I know of right now, but I am never excited to see Taylor be wishy-washy about who he wants to be in a couple with, and I’m definitely never excited to see Olandria second-guess her worth. Those are two things I’m never excited to see. So I am kind of hoping that she finds the right person for her and not someone who’s wishy-washy about whether or not they want to be with her.

What is the most shocking thing that you’ve seen this season?

Oh, I think Charlie’s dumping was very shocking. I really did not expect that at all.

Do you ever expect the dumps going in? What’s the preparation process behind that?

Sometimes you never really know. I feel like going in, it’s a little bit of you can guess, or you can say, like, OK, I feel like I’ve seen these two people become a little bit closer, but whether or not they’re actually going to pick this person or that person — there’s really no way to know. And it’s really down to the moment, and the islanders make their decisions. And sometimes I’m like, OK, that makes sense, I get it. And other times I’m just completely shocked — like Charlie, for example.

What’s next for you?

Well, I will be going back to Los Angeles, and I have a long list of things that I need to get done, and I will be back in the sandwich shop in West Hollywood. Please come see us — Something About Her — and have a sandwich. I’ll be there for some time.