Love Island USA's Hurricane Huda landed — winners and losers from the explosive confrontations

Since Love Island USA season 7 kicked off, the most-talked-about couple has easily been that of Huda and Jeremiah. They were quick to settle into their pairing and have even leaned into the narrative of them being the “mom and dad” of the villa. While some found their dynamic charming, fellow islander Ace, along with many viewers at home, felt as if Huda and Jeremiah were love-bombing one another and moving way too quickly this early into the competition.

Fast forward to the Love Island USA season 7 episode that dropped on June 13, and viewers finally had their chance to weigh in on the season. They were given the option of pairing new bombshells, Iris, Jalen and Pepe with other islanders. This, of course, meant that some existing couples would be torn apart.

As the episode from June 15 aired, it was revealed that Jeremiah was paired with Iris. This was a complete shocker to me, as Iris had more chemistry with Ace and Nic. Then once the episode from June 16 dropped, I was glued to my screen as I just knew it was going to be explosive, and boy was it.

Huda was like a hurricane moving through that villa, shifting the vibes and energy of nearly every other Love Island USA season 7 castmate. But she saved most of her fiery energy for Jeremiah. Jeremiah, meanwhile, got into it with his bestie on the island, Nic; Ace was eager to call Jeremiah out, too.

So, who were the winners and losers of the first big blow-up of Love Island USA season 7? Let’s talk about it.

Winners

Ace
Say what you will about Ace, but he definitely was a winner in all this. You have to respect a person who willingly repeats everything he’s said behind a person’s back to their face. He’s been stating for a while that he doesn’t buy Huda and Jeremiah’s relationship, and he went ahead and told them both his thoughts.

Ace didn’t waver in his emotional exchanges with Jeremiah and Huda. He believes they were moving too fast and someone in their pairing was being disingenuous, and he stood by that. I understand some likely find Ace a bit messy after his exchanges with Amaya and his constant back-and-forth with Chelley, but he vocalized to Huda and Jeremiah what many fans feel if social media is to be believed.

Nic
I hate to see show besties fall out, but I was happy to see Nic also own what he’s been saying about Jeremiah and Huda. Although he arguably could have given Jeremiah a heads-up about his feelings on his dynamic with Huda, I applaud him for at least owning what he’s said behind Jeremiah’s back to his face.

Additionally, Nic held Jeremiah accountable for not checking on Huda in the moments after the recoupling. Nic couldn’t understand why Jeremiah wouldn’t try to comfort her when she was bawling her eyes out if Jeremiah really had such strong feelings for her. To be fair, Jeremiah seems to have been emotionally all over the place, so he may have opted to do nothing, unsure of the right thing to say and do.

Huda
I don’t relish in anyone’s pain, but I have to be honest, Huda’s reaction to America’s vote made for must-watch TV. Her unloading on Jeremiah was a spectacle. One that has me comparing it to Love Island USA season 6’s Serena when she blew up on Kordell on the dock (although I’ll give the Serena showdown the edge). Heck, even Huda’s fellow islanders were actively eavesdropping every time they heard Huda on the move.

Losers

Jeremiah
Jeremiah really went through it this episode. He was villainized by Huda, the guys (sans Austin) and the girls (sans Iris). Again, he didn’t even dump Huda. Regardless of how Ace and others feel about his possible love-bombing and the pace at which he moves with women, if he falls for people fast and hard, who are any of us really to tell him he’s necessarily wrong?

Where Jeremiah really messed up though, was that he didn’t attempt to speak with Huda the night of the recoupling. When he was asked, he answered that he would check on her the following day. Not only that, but Jeremiah suggested he was more upset about Charlie going home than he was about being split from Huda.

Oh, and I can’t forget that Jeremiah said “Huda is cooked,” and he would rather that Huda had gone home. Yes, he said that in response to hearing Huda be so upset about the recoupling and calling him outside of his name. However, there’s an argument to be made that she wouldn’t have been so irate had he just checked on her in the aftermath of the night.

I’m not bashing anyone here. These are real people with real emotions, so that’s not my intent. However, I’m just calling things out as they unfolded in this big Love Island USA moment.

Love Island USA season 7 streams exclusively in the US on Peacock.