Premiering on November 1 and concluding on November 21, the inaugural season of Love Island Games brought together fan-favorite islanders from international iterations of Love Island — from Love Island: USA to Love Island: UK to Love Island: Australia and beyond — for a series unlike anything viewers have seen before.
For those who are unfamiliar with Love Island Games, according to Peacock, the show gives said islanders “a second shot at love as they compete in a brand-new format to be crowned champions of Love Island Games. In this cheeky new iteration, romance will meet reality as fan-favorite islanders are faced with both team and couples’ challenges, all while navigating dating, eliminations, recoupling, dramatic arrivals, and new competition twists and turns like never before.”
While several individuals coupled up with someone from across the pond for Love Island Games — such as Lisa Celander and Curtis Pritchard, Aurelia Lamprecht and Johnny Middlebrooks, Deb Chubb and Callum Hole, and more — two of the most notable duos combined some of our favorite Love Island: USA and Love Island: UK contestants. These two couples were none other than Justine Ndiba and Jack Fowler, as well as Cely Vazquez and Eyal Booker.
While Justine and Jack prevailed as the champions of the inaugural season of Love Island Games leaving with both a massive cash prize and love, their closest allies (who double as their best friends) were eliminated just shy of the finale.
At the beginning of the final episode, Cely and Eyal got sent home after failing to receive the support of the ousted islanders (with the exception of Kyra Green and Georgia Steel), in a one-of-a-kind twist that brought back the entire cast of the inaugural season of Love Island Games as the jury. Given that the foursome had plans to compete in the finale together, Justine and Jack were “really devastated” by their untimely exit.
Keep scrolling to see what the two lovebirds had to say about the elimination of Cely Vazquez and Eyal Booker in an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter…
Given that Love Island Games added a brand new element to the franchise we know and love (which is the competition aspect, of course), Justine Ndiba and Jack Fowler admitted that they felt pressured to form alliances with their peers in order to stay on the show. It turns out Love Island Games is a lot more of a social game than a physical game!
“I didn’t really expect the alliances to be the thing, but then very, very quickly you realize that there are people outside of the villa that know each other, naturally, because everyone’s kind of in the same world, so you do have friends that you look out for,” Jack dished. “I started noticing a lot of my UK islanders being booted out the villa for either duels or vote-offs, and I was like, ‘Wow, I didn’t expect this to be the case,’ but it’s Love Island Games.”
He concluded passionately, “We’re kind of learning as we go along, because there’s no reference to another season, right? It was just a massive learning curve, but it was so much fun and had a great, great time.”
As mentioned, Justine looked out for her Love Island: USA family, including Ray Gantt and Kyra Green, and Jack looked out for his Love Island: UK family, including Toby Aromolaran and Liberty Poole, ultimately giving the pair quite a few allies as Love Island Games progressed. There’s a reason they were able to survive elimination after elimination and coast their way to the finale!
Nonetheless, with Cely Vazquez and Eyal Booker being their closest allies by a landslide, their elimination naturally took a toll on the pair.
“I was really devastated, because I felt like Eyal and Cely also really worked hard in the game, and I just felt like that was more a shot at Jack and I, sending Cely and Eyal home,” Justine gushed. “That’s the part that kind of sucks, because I felt like they also deserve to be there, but it’s Love Island Games. I just feel like it’s throwing all the curveballs at you, so that was definitely unexpected for us to see.”
Admitting that it was tough not having a say in who was dumped from the villa that fateful night, she concluded, “I definitely thought maybe it would have been Johnny [Middlebrooks] and Aurelia [Lamprecht],” ultimately throwing shade at Cely’s ex-boyfriend — yikes!
Jack also weighed in on the situation, sharing with The Hollywood Reporter, “It was hard for me to see Eyal go as well, ‘cause that’s my guy from the UK. He was like a rock for me in there as well, so for them not to make the final was kind of tough to see, but yeah, it was actually completely out of our hands.”
To watch both Justine Ndiba and Jack Fowler and Cely Vazquez and Eyal Booker on Love Island Games, fans of the Love Island franchise can stream the entirety of the beloved competition series on Peacock now.