What happened to Kendall from ‘Love Island?’

Love him or hate him, Kendall Washington became one of the best-known participants in season 6 of Love Island: USA. Plenty of other cast members stood out over the course of the season, whether for good or bad reasons, but this territory manager has been at the center of public attention since the show ended.

On-screen, Kendall developed a relationship with fellow islander Nicole Jacky, and together the couple managed to snatch fourth place at the end of the season. Off-screen, though, things haven’t been so pretty. Granted, not many things had gone wrong for the reality star until the season finale, but his luck turned around incredibly quickly when he became the victim of an extreme invasion of privacy. This occurrence set Kendall on a rough patch, causing trouble in his personal life, particularly in his relationship with Nicole.

Okay, but what exactly happened? The two TV personalities addressed some difficult subjects during the reunion special, but less attentive Love Island fans may have missed out on some of the revelations to come out of it. Or on what has been going on behind the scenes. If that’s your case, worry not — we’ve got you covered.

What happened to Kendall Washington from Love Island: USA?

Kendall had private and intimate videos leaked online on July 21, the same day of the Love Island: USA season 6 finale. Instead of gathering the public’s sympathy after the incident, though, the contestant became a target of homophobic hate, with many people assuming that he’s gay and had been fooling Nicole in the show by being with her. Kendall later addressed the leaks via his Instagram Stories, thanking those who chose to be supportive of him, but the situation clearly strained his relationship.

In the season 6 reunion special, Nicole was very open about her disappointment with Kendall, accusing him of lying about the videos’ origin, and pointing out some communication issues. It was evident to anyone with a pair of functioning eyes that the relationship was hanging on by a thread, and on Aug. 20, the pair officially called it quits. Well, Kendall did, as he was the one breaking up with Nicole via phone call. On Instagram, he claimed that it was not healthy for the two to continue investing in the relationship, despite how much they still loved and cared for each other.

This must have been a hard decision for Kendall to make, especially while dealing with a huge invasion of privacy and all the resulting backlash. Let’s just hope this islander manages to find some peace and happiness in the near future.