Reality show participant Love Island USA was dropped from the show just days before the eighth season premiered after videos surfaced showing a contestant using a racial slur.
Vasana Montgomery of Beaverton, Oregon, will no longer appear on the series, Deadline confirms. A Peacock spokesperson notes that the footage of the incident, in which 25-year-old Montgomery uses a racial slur, appears to be privately owned and was not released prior to her announcement, making it impossible to verify it before her dismissal.
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Ahead of Season 8, Love Island USA is encouraging viewers to "be kind": "There's a positive vibe in the villa.".
This marks the second year in a row that the popular American version of the British original has been forced to fire a contestant for using racist language. In June 2025, Julissa Escobar left the villa the day after the season 7 premiere amid backlash over a video of her repeatedly uttering a racist slur. Her exit was commented on with a simple statement midway through the second episode of last year's reality dating show. (Escobar issued an apology following her exit, but has since downplayed the severity of her actions on social media.) A month later, an uncomfortable moment of déjà vu occurred: another season 7 contestant, Sierra Ortega, was also ejected from the show after using a racial slur against Asians. Narrator Iain Stirling addressed the moment in episode 30, stating that Ortega left the show "due to a personal situation." A few days later, Ortega also released a statement; However, the former contestant stopped short of calling it an "apology video." She said, "It's an admission of guilt. I want to acknowledge that I take responsibility for using that word, but I want everyone to know that I genuinely didn't know it was a slur. I didn't know what it meant.".
Just a few days ago on the page Love Island USA A message was posted on Instagram asking viewers to "stay positive and kind" as the cast prepares to debut on the spin-off, which will be hosted by Ariana Madix.
The first contestants (now excluding Montgomery) to enter the villa will be: Aniya Harvey (Tyrone, Georgia), Beatrice Hatz (San Diego, California), Bryce Dettloff (Los Angeles, California), Gabriel Vasconcelos (Miami, Florida), Casey Chandler (Fresno, California), Kenzie Annis ( Kennesaw, Georgia), Melanie Moreno (Los Angeles, California), Sean Reifel (Easton, Pennsylvania), Sincere Ria (Cape May, New Jersey), Trinity Tatum (Newport News, Virginia) and Zach Georgiou (Birmingham, England).
Series «Love Island USA» is produced by ITV America in association with Lifted Entertainment and Motion Entertainment, part of WPP Media Company, and distributed by ITV Studios. The series' executive producers are David George, Adam Sher, Jordana Hochman, Bernie Shaffer, Ben Thursby-Palmer, James Barker, Blake Garrett, Courtney Rosenthal, Sophie Brown, Richard Coles, Mike Spencer, Tom Gould, Ali Hill, and Martin Oxley.
The eighth season, which follows the record-breaking seventh season, premieres on June 2 at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT. New episodes will be released daily throughout the premiere week, excluding Wednesdays.
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