Kendall and Nicole from “Love Island USA” about Casa Amor and Andreas’ exit

Nicole Jacky and Kendall Washington are getting used to a regular schedule again. After spending the summer Love Island USA In season 6, “they’re still living in the mansion,” Jacky, 26, tells Elite Daily. “Absolutely,” Washington says. “But it felt good to wake up every morning without the blinding lights.”

This harsh daily wake-up call was one of the many peculiarities of life in the villa, along with the lack of sense of time. “The weirdest thing is not having a watch,” says Jacky. “You lose yourself in the moment when you’re there. It’s kind of nice.” With no obligations, they were able to get to know each other and build a relationship that became one of the strongest of the season.

Jacky and Washington, 28, met when she emerged as a bombshell of the early days. They experienced some initial drama when Jacky pursued a relationship with Miguel Harichi, but by the time Casa Amor came around, they were only interested in each other. They broke up soon after and in the finale, the two said “I love you.”

Below, the fourth-place islanders discuss their thoughts on the final ranking, the criticism Washington faced for his comments during Casa Amor, and what could have happened if things had gone differently.

Elite Daily: Congratulations on making it to the finals! What do you think of the final placing? Who do you think should have won?

Nicole Jacky: We all had our guesses and the girls and I tried to make predictions. Everyone deserved to win. Each couple was special in their own way. I felt like Serena (Page) and Kordell (Beckham) would win. They have been through and overcome so much and literally have a love story.

Kendall Washington: We didn’t even talk about it until our last day – we forgot about winning and losing. Nicole and I thought it was Serena and Kordell. They’ve been through so much and have been together since day one. Kordell is my boy. But honestly, I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was one of us because we all get along so well.

ED: How does it feel to go back to your phones and see how many fans have engaged with the show?

NJ: It’s so crazy because you’re in this bubble in the villa and you’re obviously out of touch with the real world. You don’t know what’s going on, what’s being said or what you’re seeing. It’s crazy. I’m not going to lie. I got my phone back last night. I feel like I can’t even comprehend how many people have watched the show.

KW: It’s crazy. We were already exhausted and laying in bed with our eyes half open trying to read comments and posts and all our friends and family reaching out to us. It was a lot to process. It’s going to take a while to catch up.

ED: I want to address a few things that happened during the season. Nicole, the night Andrea Carmona went home, you said you thought you would be eliminated instead. What do you think would have happened to Rob Rausch and Andrea if she had stayed?

NJ: The whole situation was really hard. I knew what Rob and Andrea were going through. It’s funny because I’m so grateful for the experience I had, but I think Andrea’s time was cut short, and I really believe Andrea and Rob would have blossomed more if they had had more time together. They had an instant connection.

I had only just scratched the surface with Kendall, so I wasn’t ready to leave, but it was just so early.

ED: Kendall, what do you think would have happened to you if Nicole had gone home that night?

NJ: Oh, I want to hear that.

KW: I don’t know what I would have done. With Nicole, I reached a point where I had hope again because she brought out this new side of me. I had never met anyone like her.

If that had been cut short, damn… I don’t know what I would have done, looking at the new bombshells that came after her. I can’t imagine connecting with anyone on that level, and I probably would have been sent home the next week with no connection. Thank God that didn’t happen.

ED: Nicole, you were briefly in a love triangle with Kendall and Miguel. Was it ever awkward with Miguel after the breakup?

NJ: No. That’s the cool thing about Miguel – he’s very smart and understanding. He was new to the villa and we were on the same page about exploring connections. He took it well. He wanted to meet Leah back then. Everything is going as it should and I’m glad we can all stay friends. From the outside, it would be kind of weird, I’m not going to lie.

ED: Kendall, you were very close to the entire cast this season, but were criticized for “playing both sides” and egging the guys on in their Casa relationships. Looking back, what do you think about that situation?

KW: I definitely went about it the wrong way because I have such a close relationship with the girls in the villa. I wanted everyone to be happy and find their partner. The fact that I behaved so poorly in Casa is my biggest regret because I should have been more concerned about the girls at home instead of getting caught up in the Casa experience and forgetting what happened. I was only thinking about Nicole, but I should have encouraged the boys to have the same attitude.

It was devastating for Serena and Kaylor to hear that from me… I’m still trying to make amends to this day.

I was carried away by the moment and I encouraged them and said, ‘Yo, if you’re happy, go for it.’ It was devastating for Serena and Kaylor (Martin) to hear that from me because I was so supportive of them throughout the whole process. I’m still trying to make up for it to this day.

NJ: I don’t think you were egging them on. You were happy to see your boys happy and, as I like to say, got lost in the mood or got carried away by the situation. I don’t think you had any bad intentions.

KW: I just wanted them to be happy, but in the end they had a stronger connection to their homeland. We all knew that was how it turned out.

ED: Nicole, has this situation changed your feelings for Kendall in any way?

NJ: It was hard for me to deal with because it really had nothing to do with me, but because I’m with Kendall and I care about him, I felt like I had to tell him what I thought. Even though he didn’t mean any harm, he was so close to the girls and always supported them. I saw how devastated and hurt they were by the video we got, so I had to tell Kendall.

I told him, “You have to do what you think is right. I’m not going to tell you to apologize to the girls. You brought this on yourself. You have to get out of it how you think is right.” It all worked out and I’m proud of him for how he handled it and swallowed his pride to make it up to the girls.

KW: I was grateful that Nicole was able to give me that constructive criticism. It meant a lot to her to tell me all those things because she didn’t have to, but she holds me to a higher standard. It may have seemed like she was tearing me down, but I deserved it.

ED: Last question – how much avocado toast did you actually eat?

KW: I didn’t eat a lot of avocado toast. To be honest, I wasn’t even a breakfast person. I just made breakfast for Nicole every morning, drank iced coffee, and then worked out.

NJ: I ate a lot of avocado toast. When I was a real bombshell, everyone was eating it. I was like, “Okay, period. Here we go.” We did it pretty fancy. I put diced bacon on mine.

KW: Oh, okay, boss.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.