Love Island USA returned for season 8 — minus one contestant — but did Vasana Montgomery appear in the premiere before her exit?
The popular dating show returned on Tuesday, June 2, with contestants Aniya Harvey, Beatriz Hatz, Bryce Alakai Dettloff, Gabriel Vasconcelos, KC Chandler, Mackenzie “Kenzie” Annis, Melanie Moreno, Sincere Rhea, Sean Reifel, Trinity Tatum and Zach Georgiou.
The only person missing was Vasana, who was originally announced as part of the cast.
After resurfaced social media posts showed her using a slur, Vasana was removed — before she got a chance to enter the villa. Both clips were leaked from her private social media, which meant producers weren’t privy to the posts while casting the show.
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Love Island USA follows a group of singles who have to pair off in order to stay in the show’s luxury villa in Fiji. The contestants — who are referred to as Islanders — live in isolation in a villa and are under constant video surveillance. They must be coupled up to remain on the show and to stand a chance to receive the prize of $100,000.
While the islanders are filming nonstop for weeks, viewers are watching daily episodes and even get to cast votes that affect couples and the fate of the contestants. Season 7, however, made headlines in summer 2025 over fans getting too invested in the drama playing out on screen, which has resulted in invasive behavior such as contacting islanders’ loved ones off screen.
Host Ariana Madix issued a message for those Love Island USA viewers who are taking things too far when expressing their frustrations.
“I do want to say something to some of those people who are online,” she said during a June 2025 episode of Aftersun. “Don’t be contacting people’s families. Don’t be doxxing people.”
Ariana questioned the behavior she saw on social media.
“Don’t be going on islanders’ pages and saying rude things. You still have time to delete all of that because the islanders don’t have their phones,” she noted. “So we are giving you a chance because this is a fun, amazing and beautiful show. We should be thanking each one of these islanders every single day for giving us themselves.”
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Peacock also had to step in to remind fans not to take their passion too far.
“The keyword in Love Island is … love. We love our fans. We love our islanders,” read a statement from Peacock that aired in a June 2025 episode. “We don’t love cyberbullying, harassment or hate.”
Before season 8 premiered, Love Island USA released another statement directed at the audience, which read, “The Villa runs on good vibes, and so does this community. We love seeing your reactions, opinions, and debates, but everyone deserves to feel safe and respected.”
The statement continued: “This is a space for fun, not negativity – so keep it kind, keep it positive, and remember: this is LOVE Island!”
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