'Love Island USA' star Cierra speaks out on Nic and Olandria after controversial exit
"Love Island USA" alum Cierra Ortega has no animosity toward "Nicolandria."
Following her exit after viewers resurfaced social media posts where she used a racial slur, leaving her partner Nic Vansteenberghe single, Ortega voiced her support for his recoupling with Olandria Carthen.
"They are two people I care deeply for and absolutely adore," she wrote in a Saturday, June 12, Instagram carousel of moments from the show. "I've always wanted nothing but happiness for each of them in this experience. that has never & will never change."
Ortega and Vansteenberghe were at one point the only couple to label themselves as exclusive, and their fellow islanders appeared to consider them frontrunners in the Peacock romance-competition show.
The Peacock reality series announced July 6, a week before the finale, that Ortega, 25, had left the villa due to a "personal" situation, leaving Vansteenberghe without a match. Her exit came days after viewers had resurfaced multiple posts of Ortega using a racist slur against Asian people, including one as recently as 2023, according to People.
Ortega spoke of the "people, moments, and memories I'll cherish forever" in her post, which included photos of her and the other castmembers, as well as shots with her and Carthen as well as Vansteenberghe.
"this journey didn't end the way I hoped, but there was real connection, love, and growth in these moments. there's still so much more growing to do," Ortega added. "and for that, I'll always be grateful."
Ortega apologized in a nearly five-minute video on Instagram on July 9 by issuing an apology to "not just anyone that I have hurt or deeply offended, but most importantly, the entire Asian community. I am deeply, truly, honestly, so sorry."
"While I was in the villa, there were some posts that resurfaced from my past where I was very naively using an incredibly offensive and derogatory term," she said. "I had no idea that the word held as much pain, as much harm, and came with the history that it did, or I never would have used it. I had no ill intention when I was using it, but that's absolutely no excuse because intent doesn't excuse ignorance."
Contributing: KiMi Robinson