Just weeks after Love Island USA crowned season 7’s Amaya Espinal and Bryan Arenales as its newest winners, news of a shocking breakup is shaking the reality series’ fanbase.
Season 6 fan favorites and third-place finishers, JaNa Craig and Kenny Rodriguez, have called it quits, Entertainment Weekly has confirmed.
Craig, 28, and Rodriguez, 25, had a whirlwind romance on Love Island, with the fitness content creator sweeping Craig off her feet as a bombshell after several failed romantic starts. Since leaving the Fiji villa, the pair had seemingly been going strong, even as they navigated their long-distance relationship with Craig being based in Las Vegas and Rodriguez in Dallas.
Ben Symons/Peacock
JaNa Craig and Kenny Rodriguez on ‘Love Island USA’ season 6
The pair showed a deeper look into their relationship in Beyond the Villa alongside their friends and fellow Love Island USA finalists, Serena Page and Kordell Beckham — who took home the $100,000 prize as season 6’s winning couple — and runners-up Leah Kateb and Miguel Harichi.
The split surprised many, especially since the couple was seen partying together at David Dobrik’s birthday party on Saturday night. But by Sunday morning, Craig, 28, had reportedly broke things off with Rodriguez, 25.
“There was no big, public blowout,” a source told PEOPLE, referring to online rumors that the former couple got into a fight during Dobrik’s celebration on Saturday. “That did not happen.”
But for anyone holding out hope for a reunion, the source added, “They will not be getting back together.”
Neither Craig nor Rodriguez has addressed the rumors publicly.
TMZ was the first to report the news.
Online speculation about a breakup began when fans noticed that Craig and Rodriguez no longer followed each other on Instagram despite the latter having shared photos of the duo from Dobrik’s party on his Instagram Stories.
They have also both removed references to one another in their Instagram bios, with Craig removing any posts that feature loved-up photos of them together that isn’t part of a brand sponsorship. Rodriguez has several cuddled-up posts remaining as of Monday afternoon.
Things turned into a frenzy when fans noticed that several other season 6 stars also unfollowed Rodriguez, including Page, Beckham, Kateb, and Harichi.
Kaylor Martin, Liv Walker, and Connor Newsum — whose tense relationship with Craig was rehashed on Beyond the Villa — also unfollowed him.
Ben Symons/Peacock
Serena Page, Kordell Beckham, Kendall Washington, Nicole Jacky, Ariana Madix, Kenny Rodriguez, JaNa Craig, Leah Kateb, and Miguel Harichi on ‘Love Island USA’ season 6
Craig and Rodriguez have raised many questions about their long distance relationship as it played out for fans on Beyond the Villa.
Rodriguez perviously spoke to their situation earlier this month, explaining to Variety why they decided to live separately while filming in Los Angeles together.
“Since leaving the villa, it’s a big jump moving in together with someone, and I didn’t want it to be televised, especially the first time,” he told the outlet. “So we rented rooms next to each other.”
He added, “Another aspect for me is privacy. When JaNa gets ready for events, she has a huge glam team. Usually, there’s somebody in there for wardrobe, and sometimes I don’t have the space to change and things like that. Granted, we were always together on the show. It was great to experience L.A. and to be with her in the same city.”
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Separately, Craig told PEOPLE that living apart helps “the heart grow fonder.”
“But it also doesn’t put a lot of pressure on us to need to be with each other all the time,” she added. “I kind of like it that we don’t live in the same city right now.”
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
