Love Island USA has never been short on candid conversations, especially when Islanders start opening up about their romantic histories.
Viewers have heard plenty over the years, from messy breakups to long-running crushes, but season 8 contestant Beatriz Hatz shared a particularly personal detail about one of her former relationships.
During the Peacock show’s Monday, June 8 episode, the 25-year-old spoke with fellow Islander Gabriel Vasconcelos about her dating past and revealed she had previously been involved with a man who was significantly older than her.
“I had two adult relationships,” she began. “I dated this guy for three years but we would break up and get back together. It wasn’t healthy. He was a lot older than me.”
When Gabriel asked Beatriz how big the age difference had been, she told him it was 20 years.
The conversation then took another unexpected turn, as Gabriel admitted he also had experience dating someone much older, saying he had previously been with a woman 18 years his senior.
The exchange followed a week packed with blunt admissions in the villa, including a challenge where the Islanders were given sexual facts and had to guess which contestant each one belonged to.
One revelation stated that an Islander had slept with someone in their 50s, and it was later confirmed that Gabriel was the person behind the story.
“I was out and I was having a good time with my friends. She started talking to me and she was hot as f*** for her age,” the 26 years old explained. “We had a good night together. She had a lot of experience.”
Narrator Iain Stirling later joked about Gabriel’s dating preferences, referring to him as a ‘reverse Leonardo DiCaprio’ in a nod to the actor’s widely discussed history of dating younger women.
The current run of Love Island USA is the show’s eighth season, once again bringing together a group of single contestants hoping to find a genuine connection in the villa.
This year’s line-up includes Aniya Harvey, Bryce Alakai Dettloff, KC Chandler, Mackenzie “Kenzie” Annis, Melanie Moreno, Sincere Rhea, Sean Reifel, Trinity, Corbin Mims, Kayda Bosse and Zach Georgiou, with several early romances already beginning to develop.
However, one person who is no longer part of the season is Vasana Montgomery, who was removed from season 8 of Love Island USA after old social media posts resurfaced showing her using a slur.
Vasana later addressed the matter online.
“I want to address a couple videos from my teen years that have recently resurfaced. In those videos, I used a racial slur. I am embarrassed and disappointed by my words.”
“I take full responsibility for what I said and understand why it has hurt and upset people,” she continued.
“Since then, I have grown a lot as a person and taken the time to educate myself, listen, learn, and better understand the impact that language can have.”
She added:
“That growth does not erase my mistake, and 1am not asking anyone to excuse it. I believe people should be held accountable for their actions, but I also believe in growth, learning, and becoming better. To anyone I hurt or disappointed, I am truly sorry.”