Love Island USA Season 7’s Olandria Carthen faced heartbreak in the villa after coupling up early on with Islander Taylor Williams. While the two seemed to start strong, fans quickly questioned Tayor’s true interest, as she openly expressed her desires for the cowboy.

Their connection came to an end when Taylor hit the brakes and coupled up with Casa Amor bombshell Clarke Carraway, leaving Olandria at risk for an island dumping. But in a surprise twist, Olandria was able to stay and recoupled with Nic Vansteenberghe — or as fans would call them, “Nicolandria” — sparking an unexpected romance that fans quickly grew to love.

Despite her fallout with Taylor, she strongly believes that he got a bad edit on the show, and expressed nothing but love and respect for him.

Olandria Carthen Says Taylor Williams Was Not “Portrayed Accurately” On Love Island USA

Olandria’s Love Island USA journey took an unexpected turn when she ultimately recoupled with Nic Vansteenberghe and the couple made it to the finale, placing second behind winners, Amaya Espinal and Bryan Arenales. At the very start of the season, Olandria was coupled up with Taylor Williams, the cowboy from Oklahoma, and fans believed they’d be a perfect fit.

But, fans began to notice Taylor was not showing the same amount of affection as Olandria. And, once Casa Amor rolled around, he felt butterflies for bombshell Clarke Carraway. Back in the villa, he recoupled with Clarke, not even giving Olandria a real explanation for leaving her behind. In fact, it also infuriated America, and they had no problem letting their feelings known during voting challenges, even ultimately sending Taylor and Clarke home before the finale.

In a new interview with Variety, Olandria opened up about her connection with Taylor and how he received a very poor edit on the show. In fact, she defended him throughout her interview, even calling him a “dream guy.”

“I do not think my connection with Taylor was portrayed accurately at all,” Olandria shared.

She continued, “They never showed what Taylor was doing to make me feel the way I did. He’s a sweet guy,” she began. “He remembered everyone’s coffee, tea and breakfast orders. He was everyone’s “dream guy.” He was so nice to all of them. Even when Huda was on the chopping block with him, he wiped her tears with his shirt and set aside his feelings and emotions to ensure she felt safe and reassured in that moment.”

Although Olandria did defend Taylor, she went on to state that she wished he would of “had been more open” with her about his feelings towards her.

“I’m not upset that Taylor found a genuine connection. I wish he had been more upfront with me. When Clarke was in the villa, Taylor expressed to me that he still wants to explore both of us. He never said he wasn’t feeling our connection anymore or that he didn’t find me physically attractive. None of those words ever came out of his mouth,” she shared.

Fans React To Olandria Sticking Up For Taylor Despite Their Fallout

A Reddit thread sharing Olandria’s Variety interview drew praise from Love Island fans, many of whom admired her maturity and genuine attitude toward Taylor. While he may have broken her heart, the experience ultimately opened the door for her to explore a deeper connection with Nic, a man who respected her and showed a sincere interest from the start.

• “aww she is really sweet for saying such nice things about him publicly. and honestly, I believe her! Taylor doesn’t strike me as a bad guy, maybe just a little immature.”
• “She is so mature and kind to give him grace like that. I’m happy she has now has a man that worships the ground she walks on. She deserves it.”

Olandria And Nic’s Romantic Connection Didn’t Blossom Until Later In The Season

Olandria and Nic were with other people when they began their Love Island USA journey. While Olandria was coupled up with Taylor, Nic developed a solid connection with Cierra Ortega. However, when Casa Amor came, both Olandria and Nic were shockingly dumped from the island when they could not make connections with any of the bombshells.

However, Nic and Olandria were ultimately saved from leaving the villa when they were tasked with either coupling up and exploring their connection, or risking leaving. The two decided to couple up, but they later realized they were better off as friends after having shared what fans thought was a very steamy kiss at Soul Ties. In their joint interview with Variety, when asked about the smooch, Nic said, “Fans call it the kiss that can be heard around the world.”

While Nic and Olandria couldn’t see it, fans wanted them to be together from the very beginning. They didn’t forget Nic kissing Olandria during a blindfold challenge, and the way he would look at her when she walked into a room.

When asked about fans shipping them from the very start, Olandria shared with Variety, “All the support is so surreal. Nicolandria stans overshadow anything that’s negative, and I appreciate them. When I’m feeling down, I go back to the tweets and videos that uplift us. I appreciate the people that’s behind us. It’s been helping me navigate my new reality since I left the villa.”

When Taylor coupled up with Clarke, and Cierra was removed from the show, it was yet another chance for Olandria and Nic to give their connection another shot. They would make it to the very end of Season 7 where they placed runner-up. Clearly, fans were excited to see these two together.

In an interview with Today, Olandria shared that she loved the edit she received with Nic because it showed that their friendship turned romantic relationship was truly authentic.

“I love it. The edits tell our story beautifully, from beginning to end. And some of them even bring me to tears sometimes, like this is so beautiful. To know that we were unintentionally doing all this, like none of that was forced. We didn’t even know Nicolandria nation was even existing — like, the producers did an amazing job of not telling us that information,” she said.

She continued. “We just kind of naturally gravitated toward each other toward the end of the experience. And it tells it beautifully through the edit. So I like to rewatch them.”

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