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Love Island viewers are usually left with a lot of questions when someone is unexpectedly removed from the villa — but what do the other Islanders get told by production?
The hit dating series originally premiered in the U.K. in 2002 before it expanded worldwide with various spinoffs, including Love Island USA on Peacock. The series follows a different group of singles every season who have to pair off in order to stay in the show’s luxury villa.
There are a multitude of rules that the Islanders must follow, including being under constant video surveillance and not having access to the outside world. As a result, the cast usually isn’t privy to possible drama off screen and how it might cause one of their own to be pulled out of Fiji.
That seemed to be the case in season 7 of Love Island USA when Yulissa Escobar was gone two episodes in. Narrator Iain Stirling later acknowledged the shakeup when he noted that Ace Greene was single because Yulissa “has left the villa.”
Yulissa’s departure came after clips of her using racial slurs on a podcast circulated online. She wasn’t the only Islander to find themselves gone from the villa before the season came to an end. Cierra Ortega faced backlash when a resurfaced social media post showed her using a slur.
Cierra’s exit was explained with Iain saying she left the villa “due to a personal situation.” Viewers, however, noticed Cierra was still there in the morning but seemed to be gone that same day. This made some question how exactly her departure played out when cameras weren’t rolling — and luckily other Islanders have hinted at the process.
Keep scrolling for what has been said about the protocol for a surprise Love Island exit:
How Is Someone Told Their Time on ‘Love Island’ Is Over?
“I did not wake up in the middle of the night. They didn’t drag my ass out of bed. I was actually just getting comfortable and just coming out of my shell because initially I was kind of timid and shy. I was upset that I got pulled out on that day because I was like, ‘Damn, I was just starting to have fun,’” Yulissa explained in a July 2025 TikTok. “But it is what it is. I woke up and Ace made me breakfast every day. Then I had a conversation with the guys because me and Ace were actually plotting since the night before to kind of spice things up in the villa. We were planning to play spin the bottle to get to know everyone.”
Yulissa recalled production stepping in at some point that day.
“I can’t tell you the time because we don’t have access to the real world. We don’t have access to our phones. We don’t have access to an actual watch or clock. And the producers don’t tell us the time. I had gotten called to the front and then I met one of the producers and they asked me to take my mic off,” she explained. “I figured something serious was kind of happening. I honestly got scared. I thought something happened with a family member or something. They didn’t really tell me anything. They just said that a video resurfaced on the internet and it’s not looking too good. I didn’t really know what video or what I was saying or what I did.”
When Do Islanders Find Out the Reason for Their Exit?
Yulissa explained that she didn’t realize exactly what was going on until she left Fiji.
“I didn’t get my phone back for another two days. They were waiting for the two episodes that I was in to air. I was literally in my hotel room losing my mind because I didn’t know what was going on. I just knew that there was a video out there,” she continued in a TikTok. “I get it. I said a word that I should have not said. But I wish I would have never said that. It is what it is. I can’t go back in time. I am sorry that I said that word.”
What Context Are the Other Islanders Given?
Jeremiah Brown was still in the villa when Yulissa left, which he discussed on the “Speedy Morman” show in June 2025, explaining, “They personally never told me anything. They never told us in the villa. They said she left for personal reasons — I can say that.”
He added: “I found out later after getting my phone back that it was because of whatever happened.”
Amaya, meanwhile, shared on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, “We all started the morning together and then out of nowhere she did disappear. We did not get the chance to say goodbye and we weren’t able to see her pack her bags. It literally just happened in the flash of an eye. … We literally were all just hanging out and she was just she was gone.”
Are They Given All the Details?
After Cierra left the villa, Zak Srakaew recalled the conversation he had with producers.
“When Cierra left, the producers gathered us all together,” he shared in a July 2025 TikTok. “They said, ‘Unfortunately, Cierra has broken some of the policies and our guidelines and she will no longer be here in the villa. That is the only information we can give you guys.’”
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Zak said they had a basic understanding of the reasons behind her departure.
“So when we were all in there, we didn’t really know what was going on,” he said. “But that is all they said to us. And if we needed someone to speak to, we can speak to them.”
He continued: “Nic was really upset that she left, but at the same time, he couldn’t really be super upset or he couldn’t express how he felt about the situation until he found out what she had done or said. At the end of the day, as much as you want to feel sorry for somebody, if you know they got removed from a show for saying something offensive, you can’t really feel sorry for them until you know what it is.”
English (US) ·