Love Island USA’s Nic Vansteenberghe and Olandria Carthen thought their second-chance romance was fate, but what they didn’t realize was how much fan interest inspired their season 7 relationship.
The Peacock dating show, which returned in June 2025, started off with Nic coupling up with Belle-A Walker before turning his sights to bombshell Cierra Ortega. As he decided to commit to exploring his feelings for Cierra, it was Nic’s unexpected chemistry with Olandria — who had a long-term connection with Taylor Williams — that caught everyone’s eye off screen.
As Nic and Olandria occasionally crossed paths in challenges, viewers started making fan edits. This led to host Ariana Madix admitting on an episode of Aftersun that she wished Nic and Olandria got a chance to take their chemistry further.
From Ariana’s lips to producers’ ears, Casa Amor provided that opportunity. Nic and Olandria were both dumped amid a recoupling, and while it seemed like all hope was lost, the fan-favorite couple got the chance to try again by pairing off together.
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That fizzled out due to their existing loyalty to their respective partners, but Olandria’s romance with Taylor subsequently fell apart. Nic, meanwhile, found himself single after a resurfaced racist post caused Cierra to be removed from the villa in July 2025 — just one week before the finale.
“We both got dumped from Casa and now it is us again. I am like, ‘Alright, let’s see what this is actually about. Let us truly navigate this couple s*** the right way this time,’” Olandria told the girls during an episode of the show. “Was it supposed to be us all along?”
Keep scrolling to relive Nic and Olandria’s romance:
Week 1
During the first episode, Nic was paired off with Belle-A and Olandria was with Taylor when Ariana gave each Islander the option to secretly explore other connections. Anyone who raised their hand got to take off their blindfold and kiss anyone they were interested in who wasn’t their partner. Nic went for it by (loudly) kissing Olandria and later being told by Ariana to wipe his mouth so Belle-A wouldn’t know just how passionately he explored that interest.
Week 2
Nic’s interest in Olandria was brought up again at the lumberjack-inspired challenge when he was already with Cierra. Each male Islander chose a beaver with a girl’s name written on it, and even though just about every guy unintentionally picked Olandria, it was her kiss with Nic that went viral.
After calling her “sexy” in a confessional, Nic went all in on the kiss and even had to shut the door when it accidentally opened to reveal their makeout to the entire group.
Week 3
Casa Amor, which was introduced in week 3, initially led to both Nic and Olandria being eliminated from the show because they weren’t chosen to couple up with any of the bombshells. But the fan favorites got a second chance when production took them on a date and offered them the opportunity to stay — if they officially coupled up.
Nic and Olandria went for it and even chose to explore their chemistry, but ultimately their respective connections with Cierra and Taylor kept them from fully committing to anything new. They chose to end a potential romance before the rest of the girls returned from Casa.
Despite their lackluster initial attempt at a relationship, Nic was still in Olandria’s corner when Taylor tried to vote her out.
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Week 4
Much of the fourth week in Fiji consisted of Nic closing off his connection with Cierra and Olandria considering her next steps once it was clear Taylor was not planning a future with her. But they still found a way to throw fans a little crumb when the heart rate challenge led to a shockingly explicit moment between Nic and Olandria.
Week 5
Nic was left single after Cierra was removed from the villa amid a racism scandal. He quickly rekindled his connection with Olandria, and she subsequently chose him at the recoupling,
“It feels familiar. Obviously, my strong connection is no longer in the villa. This time around it is about focusing on each other and giving it 100 percent,” Nic told host Ariana in the July 2025 episode. “What I can do as a man is just be there for her and take care of her as best as I can. So I am just focused on that and on making her a mean bacon, egg and cheese in the morning.”
The Finale
After finally exploring their connection, Nic and Olandria made it into the final four. They then got second place during the season 7 finale of Love Island USA.
