Love Island USA Says Goodbye to 5 Contestants Following Record Number of Votes from Viewers

There were 20 contestants in the villa and 10 couples ahead of the dumping during the July 3 episode

The Love Island USA villa just said goodbye to five contestants.

During the tense Tuesday, July 1, episode of the hit Peacock series, the 20 contestants played the game “Stand on Business,” in which the Islanders gave their unfiltered takes on each other. After the episode concluded, America voted for their favorite Islanders.

While fans were expecting a dumping, it wasn’t clear how many contestants would be told to pack their bags and leave Fiji. When host Ariana Madix arrived at the end of the Thursday, July 3, episode, it became evident that viewers would be responsible for sending home several Islanders.

As Madix announced, “in no particular order,” that the bottom three women were Casa Amor contestants Jaden Duggar, Gracyn Blackmore and bombshell Andreina Santos, while the bottom three men were original contestants Taylor Williams and Austin Shepard, and bombshell TJ Palma.

Madix then explained to the group of Islanders that only one Islander would be safe and remain in the villa. Similar to earlier episodes, the decision was up to the safe Islanders.

Instead of deliberating amongst themselves, the Islanders had to stand behind the contestants they wanted to save. Bryan Arenales and Chris Seeley supported Jaden, while Gracyn had Elan Bibas by her side. Meanwhile, Andreina was surrounded by Huda Mustafa, Amaya Espinal and Chelley Bissainthe.

As for the men, original Islander Taylor Williams received support from the girl in his couple, Clarke, as well as friends Pepe Garcia, Ace Greene, and couple Nic Vansteenberghe and Cierra Ortega. Austin had fellow original Islander Olandria Carthen by his side. And finally, TJ was almost saved by Zak Srakaew and the girl he was coupled up with, Iris Kendall.

Andreina Santos, Thomas John “TJ” Palma, Gracyn Blackmore, Austin Shepard, Jaden Duggar.Ben Symons/Peacock)

Of those eliminated, three couples were broken up: Andreina and Bryan, Gracyn and Pepe and TJ and Iris. Unlike TJ, Gracyn and Andreina were not saved by the men they were coupled up with. Ahead of the dumping, both Bryan and Pepe expressed that they were no longer as interested in their partners as they had been before. Bryan had explicitly shared he was hoping to explore a connection with Jaden. While Pepe shared he was still thinking about Hannah Fields after she was dumped during episode 18.

The final couple that was broken up was TJ and Iris, who were regarded as one of the stronger pairs. Iris was introduced as a bombshell during episode 9 and quickly explored connections with Ace and Jeremiah Brown, the latter of whom was eliminated alongside Hannah. But before Jeremiah was eliminated, TJ joined the show as a bombshell during episode 15, quickly redirecting Iris’ attention to TJ.

Jaden and Austin, the fourth and fifth Islanders sent home, were in a couple together after connecting during Casa Amor.

Deadline reported on Thursday, July 3, that the Tuesday, July 1, vote garnered record numbers and the mobile app received more than 1 million votes in the first six minutes. After the two-and-a-half-hour voting window closed, the app received over 3.5 million votes.

New episodes of Love Island USA air every night except for Wednesdays on Peacock.