Every Detail of the Iris, TJ, and Pepe Drama Explained (DETAILS)
From breakups to makeups, the Beyond the Villa premiere covered it all. Peacock Blog breaks down all the drama.
The Love Island USA Season 7 cast may have returned to their real lives, but that doesn't mean the drama stopped.
The April 15 premiere of Love Island: Beyond the Villa Season 2 quickly shed light on the questions surrounding Iris Kendall and Pepe Garcia's breakup, and the subsequent rekindled romance between Iris and TJ Palma.
While Iris and TJ are happily together, they still hold resentment towards Pepe, saying his "lies" prevented them from reuniting sooner. From sparks flying in Fiji to shocking TMZ reports, Peacock Blog explains it all, below.
Iris and TJ talk about their "unreal" connection on Love Island Season 7
Iris first entered the Villa as a Bombshell on Day 9, but was unlucky in love until TJ arrived on Day 14. The pair only had two chats before the girls were whisked away to Casa Amor, but it was enough to make an impression on them both.
"The whole time I was in Casa, I was just like thinking about him," Iris tells Peacock Blog. "And I was like, 'This is like so weird. We literally only talked twice. He's with these [Casa] girls longer than he was with me. He could very well be with them and couple up with them, but I took a risk because we both didn't know that we would pick [each other]. I could have met someone. He could have met someone, 'cause we were there longer. And we just ended up blindly picking each other."
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The former spray tan artist coupled up with Zac Woodworth while in Casa, but ultimately decided to dump him and be single. She explained that on the girls' car ride back to the main Villa from Casa, she was convinced TJ would couple up with another Islander, sending her home.
"But our connection was just so unreal and so amazing that we picked each other," she says.
TJ echoed Iris' story, explaining, "We had a great last chat before Casa. And that really solidified it for me. And then, obviously going through Casa, it just felt like I never met someone like her before. She was just the sweetest, nicest person. I remember telling the producers, 'Is she acting right now? Is this how she actually is?' And no. This is her, and I couldn't believe it. From that moment forward, I was like, 'This is the girl.'"
The pair were coupled up for four short days before TJ was sent home in a shock mass dumping, leaving Iris in tears. In the Beyond the Villa Season 2 premiere she confessed she "would have left" right then if TJ had asked her to.
Iris, Pepe, and TJ return to the real world
Iris was single for a couple of days before coupling up with Pepe, who had been one of her closest friends in the Villa up until that point. Their friendship quickly turned romantic, and they won fourth place on the show. However, as soon as they returned to the real world, Iris was filmed by TMZ talking to TJ in L.A.
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"It was super platonic," she said on Beyond the Villa. "I wanted to see, ‘Is TJ the same TJ that was on the show with no cameras around us?' and somebody called TMZ. I was completely honest with Pepe that I was gonna go meet TJ."
Iris and Pepe continued to date through to the Season 7 reunion, which was filmed a month after the finale. Days later on August 28, they announced their breakup.
What Iris and Pepe said about his "cheating scandal"
Iris and Pepe broke up amidst online cheating rumors, with Iris shedding even more light on what happened behind the scenes during a confessional on Beyond the Villa.
"With Pepe, the reason why it didn’t work out, I was getting messages from girls telling me horrible things about him," she said. "And then after the reunion, Pepe’s cheating scandal happened, and I’m not OK with that. I’m not OK with Pepe lying. And that was really just the end for me."
Pepe denied allegations of cheating while opening up in his confessional. "I did not cheat on Iris. I did not speak to other women when I was talking to Iris," he said. "I have moved on from the drama of the whole allegations, and I’m hoping everybody else does too considering they have both moved on and are now together."
Iris and TJ get back together
Soon after Iris ended her relationship with Pepe, she and TJ began talking again. She visited him in Tampa and the two decided to give their relationship another try, going on to make it official in November with TJ's Malibu girlfriend proposal. Their fellow Islanders Amaya Espinal and Jeremiah Brown secretly helped execute the romantic moment, and we saw it all go down on Season 2, Episode 2 of Beyond the Villa.
"This has been the most stressful situation I’ve ever been through in my life, but TJ has been very supportive of what has happened. I’m truly just very lucky that he gave me a second chance," Iris said on the show.
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In his own confessional, TJ confessed: "I haven’t felt this way about a girl in a while."
However, as seen on the series, the two are not speaking to Pepe. When they rekindled, they compared notes and realized Pepe had seemingly lied to both of them about the other.
"[Pepe] told me told me that, ‘TJ told me you sucked his d**k in Koreatown when you met up with him,'" Iris said. "When TJ and I rekindled, I asked him about this and he was like, ‘What the hell, I never said this.'... He needs to apologize to TJ because he took time away by lying.”
TJ had his own story. "While Iris and Pepe were together, Pepe told Iris, 'TJ’s f*****g Gracyn [Blackmore], so I could totally see Iris maybe believing him."
Will the couple have a chance to confront Pepe? We'll just have to see as the rest of Beyond the Villa plays out, exclusively on Peacock.
Reporting by Stephanie Gomulka
