Grab your popcorn and adjust your posture, islanders, because Love Island USA just dropped a massive, feature-length 90-minute episode for Day 9.
The Fijian sun was hot, but the drama was scorching as we witnessed a dessert-themed game of truths completely unravel, followed by host Ariana Madix delivering the explosive results of America’s first public vote.
Narrator Iain Stirling perfectly set the mood for the evening’s structural chaos, serving up a beautifully rhyme about the villa’s hot commodity:
“Sincere sincerely said to Melanie that he would stop kissing Sol, but that turned out to be insincere since Sincere’s tongue went into Sol’s mouth. Sincerely, Iain.”
The Four-Kiss Conundrum Chemistry
The episode opened with Sincere pulling a deeply guarded Melanie up to the daybeds for a chat, attempting to put out the fires he lit on Day 8.
“So, I know I probably have been horrible, and it’s not cool at all. And I know I hurt your feelings,” Sincere said. Claiming he wanted to eliminate all doubt about his commitment to her. Melanie entirely checked out. Physically moving to the opposite couch to put literal distance between them.
“You’re not considering me at all,” Melanie said, before firing the million-dollar question: Did he and Sol kiss again?
Sincere stumbled over his words: “I don’t know. Once… Twice.”
He tried to minimize the betrayal, claiming the physical touch was just a metric to see if he and Sol had chemistry, promising it wouldn’t happen again. But fool us once, Sincere had already broken that exact promise twenty-four hours prior.
Down in the garden, Bryce was having his own transparent conversation with Kayda. Having previously cleared it with his best mate Zach (who is currently coupled with Kayda), Bryce wanted to explore his residual Day 2 chemistry. Kayda’s response was a massive wake-up call for Zach.
“I’m still very open in this process, obviously because it’s so early on,” Kayda said. “I love my connection with Zach… I just feel like… we were like more friends.”
Bryce admitted that talking to Zach about his feelings was painful, but re-established his baseline: “You’ve always been my second option. Trinity’s easily like my number one, but number two would be you.” Bryce claimed he needed to test the waters with Kayda to eliminate all doubt before fully committing to Trinity. The two dapped it up and parted ways, but the ripples were felt immediately in a chat with Zach and Trinity.
She admits, even if another man who was her ideal type came in, she wouldn’t explore the connection.
Before bed, a thoroughly exhausted Kenzie vented to Aniya about the ongoing Corbin and Melanie connection.
“I’m sick of being the second option! He keeps asking other people, ‘Can I kiss you?’, it makes me feel not good,” Kenzie said, referring to Corbin’s rejected advance on Melanie.
Morning Avocado Truths
When morning arrived, the boys whipped up the traditional avocado toast breakfast, but the food did little to calm the love triangles. Melanie debriefed with Kayda, admitting that while she was giving Sincere another chance, the fun was entirely gone. “Four kisses is a lot,” she said.
Kayda didn’t hold back in her confessional, questioning Sincere’s true motives: “I mean, is Sincere just doing this to get back at Melanie for everything she’s been doing? If he is doing that, it’s kinda just leading Sol on.”
Sincere’s internal strategy validated Kayda’s theory. He confessed to Bryce that while he wanted to stay in a connection with Melanie, he still fully intended to keep exploring with Sol. Melanie, meanwhile, noted that her brief chat with Corbin felt like a breath of fresh air compared to the constant psychological warfare she endured with Sincere.
In a genuinely sweet moment that cut through the romantic tension, Kenzie approached Sol, offering an olive branch of sisterhood by letting the bombshell know she would always be a supportive friend if she ever needed one.
The peace did not last long. Trinity and Bryce sat down for a conversation about their progression. Trinity admitted that Bryce’s sudden urge to pull Kayda deeply hurt her feelings, especially since they both knew they weren’t each other’s traditional types but had grown to genuinely like one another.
“Sweet as Pie” Turns Sour
We got a text! And another one!
Back-to-back texts swiftly interrupted the day and brought two very familiar faces back to our screens:
Corbin: “Islanders, who’s feeling naughty and who’s feeling nice? Today you’ll be playing Sweet as Pie.”Kayda: “But will you be dishing out pies, dishing out kisses, or just dishing the dirt? We can’t wait to find out. Love Ciara and Tefi.”
The villa erupted in cheers as new Love Island USA Aftersun hosts Ciara Miller, star of Bravo’s Summer House, and Tefi Pessoa, Famous Podcaster, strutted into the garden to referee the game. They built the rules for maximum friction: Ciara and Tefi read prompts, and the islanders had to choose someone on the opposing team to either kiss (if the prompt was sweet) or smash a massive plate of whipped cream into their face (if the prompt was naughty).
“We wanna know what you really think about each other,” Tefi said
The sweet questions offered some brief romantic validation:
- “Who is most likely to remember your coffee order?” The girls selected Caleb, prompting Kenzie—who was actively balancing her options between Corbin and the bombshell—to plant a heavy kiss on him.
- “Who is most likely to stop and help a stranger?” Melanie selected Sincere for a sweet kiss.
- The boys reciprocated the love by sending KC over to kiss Aniya.
But the game quickly went off the rails when the prompts turned negative, and the target exclusively became Sol. When asked “Who is the most likely to ghost you?”, the girls sent Sol to pie Corbin, who immediately returned the favor by pieing her back.
The real breaking point arrived with the prompt: “Who is most likely to break girl code or guy code?” Zach stepped forward and delivered a direct pie straight to Sol, offering a clunky justification.
“This girl is quite strong-headed. Knows what she wants to go for. Isn’t afraid to step on anyone’s toes. We think it rightfully goes to—[Sol],” Zach said. Sol didn’t take the public execution lying down: “I feel like I don’t deserve to get pied for trying to talk to the only person that’s been open with me.”
Though the boys scrambled to defuse the tension—insisting they meant it as a compliment because a bombshell’s literal job description is to disrupt couples—the weight of the villa’s judgment reduced Sol to tears. Watching Melanie kiss Sincere earlier in the game only amplified her heartbreak.
“I feel like he’s playing both sides,” Sol said in her confessional. “How open are you really? Because it doesn’t feel that open… it feels like the door was shut in my face. Or pied in my face.”
Empathy in the Say Less Lounge
As night fell, the girls gathered in the Say Less lounge, where Melanie showed incredible maturity regarding her love triangle.
“When it becomes a love triangle and I see another woman get hurt, I’d rather it be Sincere. ‘Cause it’s not her fault,” Melanie stated. Aniya agreed: “It really is Sincere’s fault.”
Melanie emphasized her deep empathy for Sol, recognizing that the same man was pulling both of them. Sincere eventually pulled a crying Sol into the Speakeasy to repair the damage, attempting to soothe her by reassuring her that he was entirely there for her and urging her to focus only on ‘happier things’.
The gesture instantly restored Sol’s faith: “Sincere and I have a great emotional connection, and I’m excited to see where it leads.”
Ariana Madix Drops the Public Verdict
The villa’s constructed realities came crashing down when host Ariana Madix walked in. It was time for the viewers to take the wheel.
“America has been voting on who they think the bombshells Sol, Jen, and Caleb should couple up with,” Madix said.
The public’s reshuffling was swift and merciless:
- Caleb was paired with Kenzie, leaving Corbin single.
- Jen was paired with Gabriel, leaving Beatriz single.
- Sol was paired with Sincere, making Melanie’s nightmare dream reality and leaving Melanie single.
The results left Corbin, Beatriz, and Melanie standing vulnerable at the fire pit.
Ariana asked Sol how she was feeling in the heat of the moment, “I most definitely saw it coming out of everyone. I felt like we’ve had good chats with each other. So far. It was something I wanted to continue to get to know.”
“Likewise, we’ve had some really good chats. It’ll be interesting to see where the connection goes,” Sincere answered.
Ariana also asked Melanie the same question, “I’m just happy to finally end this triangle situation.”
“Congratulations to you guys. I wish you the best on your couple. Congrats, Sol. I think America saw something that I didn’t.”
Melanie broke down into tears, as everyone knows that although she messed up, she really did like Sincere. Recognizing that Love Island is ultimately about exploring connections, she gracefully took the high road, wished Sincere and Sol the best.
Longtime fans will remember this exact structural crisis from last summer (Season 7), when Huda Mustafa, Taylor Williams, and Charlie Georgiou (Zach’s older brother) found themselves single after a public vote. In that instance, the safe islanders held an internal vote, ultimately dumping Charlie from the island.
But Madix revealed a cruel structural twist for Season 8. With two single women and only one single man standing, the power didn’t belong to the group.
“You do the math,” Ariana said.
A Multilingual Heartbreak
Madix announced that Corbin held the sole power to save one woman, automatically sending the other home. Weighing his options, Corbin stepped forward and chose to couple up with Melanie—permanently ending Beatriz’s journey in paradise.
The departure triggered an incredibly emotional, tearful wave across the garden, but the absolute most heart-wrenching moment occurred when Beatriz and Gabriel shared their private final embrace. Slipping entirely into their native languages, the pair exchanged a beautiful, tear-soaked farewell in a blend of Spanish and Portuguese.
“Thank you. You always treated me like a normal person. You always gave me a lot of confidence. But I’m going to miss you,” Beatriz said.
With Beatriz gone, Melanie now saved, and the bombshells officially coupled up the plates of the villa have completely shifted.
Love Island USA airs exclusively on Peacock Sunday through Tuesday, and Thursday through Friday at 9 p.m. ET.
