Cierra Ortega is attempting to stay connected to her fellow Islanders beyond the Love Island USA villa. Olandria Carthen and Chelley Bissainthe made a joint appearance on the Baby, This Is Keke Palmer podcast for a tell-all interview about everything that went down during their time in Fiji—including the aftermath of Cierra’s sudden exit—and the girlies didn’t hold anything back.
ICYMI, the trio seemed to have a close bond in the villa before Cierra left the island prematurely due to a “personal situation” following her racism scandal.
“Have any of y’all spoke to Cierra since...everything? ’Cause I know you said that Nic hasn’t, but has she reached out to either of you?” the pod’s host, Keke Palmer, asked the pair after referring to Olandria’s beau, Nic Vansteenberghe. According to Chelley, Cierra made an effort to reach out to her and clear up anything she might have seen or heard about the situation.
“I did get to speak to her. She did reach out. It’s just a lot going on,” Chelley explained. “We didn’t know for what reason she was removed. Even when I came back, I couldn’t really find what the post was or whatever.”
She added, “But I did see she reached out. She was just saying, you know, she misses all of us, she hates what’s happening...she’s trying to, like, basically do better for herself and to reach out to us and say her apologies.”
The reality TV personality, who finished in fifth place on Love Island USA with her partner Ace Greene, expressed that she sent well wishes to Cierra after receiving her message.
“I [was] just trying to give her grace because we’re human at the end of the day, and I got to know her in the villa, as a person, through and through,” Chelley added. “All of this happening to her, I wouldn’t wish on anyone, but she’s taken full account for her stuff and is just trying to get her mind right.”
Following her exit on July 7, Cierra broke her silence on the situation surrounding her use of a racial slur. “While I was in the villa, there were some posts that resurfaced from my past where I was very naively using an incredibly offensive and derogatory term,” she said, in part. “I want to first start by addressing not just anyone that I have hurt or deeply offended, but most importantly, the entire Asian community—I am deeply, truly, honestly so sorry.”
She also shared that she understands Peacock’s decision to dump her from the show once the posts resurfaced, saying, “I completely agree with the network’s decision to remove me from the villa. This is something that deserved punishment, and the punishment has absolutely been received, for sure. I think the backlash has obviously been very hard to deal with, but I understand that people are kind of confused on why I would have even said it.”
Of course, Chelley and Olandria caught Keke up with everything that’s happened with them since their days in the villa. Check out Keke’s full conversation with the pair below.
