Season Four of “Love Island USA” is constantly adding and dumping contestants — and Andy Voyen was one of the most recent islanders who fell victim to a surprise public vote.
In Episode 13, out Aug. 2, the islanders learned that America had voted for their least favorite couples. After landing in the bottom two, Voyen — an OG islander — was dumped from the villa. Meanwhile, Mady McLanahan, with whom he was coupled up, was saved. Voyen, a 23-year-old realtor from Minneapolis, told TODAY in an interview on Monday that he was “in shock” after learning he and McLanahan were one of the bottom two couples.
He said, “I feel like her and I were just starting to hit our stride of where we were going.”
The two shared a tearful goodbye, but McLanahan decided to stay in the villa. During Sunday night’s episode, McLanahan revealed to the camera in her private confessional that she missed Voyen.
Below, Voyen reacts to McLanahan’s revelation and shares if he would want to reach out to her. He also opens up about the brief love triangle between him, Isaiah Campbell and Sydney Paight and which contestant he thinks will be tempted during Casa Amor week.
You’ve had some time now since you left the villa. Have you fully processed that you were on “Love Island USA”?
Yeah, I don’t think it actually hit me until two days ago and I sat down with one of my buddies and we literally just turned on “Love Island” and it was one of the uncut scenes and I was still on it. I have not watched any of my episodes, so it still hasn’t really caught up to me yet that I was on “Love Island.” But seeing myself finally in like uncut scenes, it kind of hit me a little bit in the face of like, “Wow, you really were just on reality TV and ‘Love Island,’” which is super cool.
I want to go back to the night that you left the villa. When you heard them read out that your fellow islanders would be deciding which one of you would leave what was going through your mind?
The initial thing that was going through my mind was, “Were Mady and I really (one of) the least favorite couples?” First off, I felt like we grew a really good thing in there. And so I was a little shocked … I also knew going in against Timmy (Pandolfi) that he’s had a super strong connection with Zeta (Morrison). And so I was a little in doubt with going into that final picking of me or Timmy just because I knew that Zeta and Timmy had such a great thing going. I saw them reconnecting and I know people wanted to give that a chance. And so going into that I did feel a little bit like, “All right, Timmy might have this one.” But I was also still in shock too (that) Mady and I were even in the bottom two. So I think that was even more surprising.
Speaking of Mady, at that point did you feel like you had a really solid foundation in your relationship?
Yeah, definitely. At that time frame, I think we were the strongest we ever were. We were having great conversations of what does life look like outside the villa and just kind of starting to really get my guard down and share my insecurities with there. So I feel like her and I were just starting to hit our stride of where we were going.
When you heard that you would be the one leaving, did you ever think that maybe she would leave with you?
I really didn’t think that she would leave. I was very adamant with her of like, “Explore every option. Yeah, we had a really good thing going. But maybe there’s something better coming and I want you to explore those options. If we do meet up again down the road or not, I just want you to know that you have no regrets and you explored all your options and you took advantage of 'Love Island' and all the opportunities it brings.” So I wanted her to stay and not leave because of me because we did just start talking. We’ve known each other for two weeks. I don’t want her to leave and miss out on maybe someone else coming in. So, no, I didn’t expect her to leave for myself.
During last night’s episode, she did say that she’s struggling because she misses you. How does it feel knowing that she still thinks about you and your connection?
Yeah, I actually did see that. A lot of comments on my Instagram (were) “Mady says she misses you.” So, I have heard that. It definitely still feels good. And I shot her a little message yesterday as well over video camera so she’ll see something coming my way super soon. Obviously it feels good. We had a genuine connection within the villa. Obviously her and I had a bumpy road. A little bit of recouplings with Sydney and then back to Mady. Just to see that she still is thinking (of me) and wants to make this work shows that we really did have a true, genuine connection within the villa.
We saw when they announced that you were leaving that Isaiah was one of the first people to run up and hug you, which was a little surprising after your fallout. How did you mend your friendship before you left?
I think there’s a lot that you probably haven’t seen from Isaiah and I. Obviously we had that big, bro-down conversation where about 100 "bros" were thrown back and forth. But, about a day later, I pulled him aside and knew that I wanted to clear the air and give him a sincere, genuine apology, knowing that Sydney and I were not going to pursue anything (and) that I wanted to pursue with Mady again. Just kind of clear the air of, “Hey, Sydney’s yours. I want you to fully explore that. And when the recoupling happens, she’s all yours.” And so I pulled him aside. We cleared the air and him and I, the last few days I was there, became really good friends in there. So Isaiah and I actually have a really good relationship and friendship going forward. Super excited about that.
Who else in the villa were you super close to?
Jesse (Bray). I think him and I have a good football background. We connected right off the bat and then he’s just a fun, easy going guy. And then the new guy that actually came in right when I was leaving, Bryce (Fins). I feel like him and I connected on a very professional level and just have a lot of similar interests. So, I think Bryce and Jesse were two guys I really connected with and then obviously Felipe (Gomes). Everyone gets along with Felipe.
Casa Amor starts in tonight’s episode. Who do you think is going to struggle and which couples do you think are 100 percent solid?
I think initially any of the new islanders (that came) in. Kat (Gibson), Nadjha (Day) and then I do know Courtney (Boerner) and Bryce have been struggling a little bit. So, I would not be surprised to see Courtney kind of stray away, test some boundaries there with some of the guys. At least on the guys side of things, I do see Jared (Hassim) and Chazz (Bryant) exploring different options within Casa Amor. But I do think Courtney will be probably the main one to kind of look to explore different options.
Is there anything you wish you would have done differently? How do you view your entire time in the villa?
No, I have zero regrets within “Love Island.” I went into it looking out for my best interest and it was just conversations I had day in and day out with islanders or therapists, whoever it may be. That’s why I was confident choosing Sydney because I was looking out for my best interest in what I knew I needed to explore the options and to live up “Love Island.” It’s a dating show. I need to date around. So to choose Sydney and then pursue Mady again, I have zero regrets. I’m just following my heart and what I felt was right. When I got voted off that one day, I felt very at ease with everything that had gone on the last 15 days. I’m very happy with how well “Love Island” turned out.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.