Love Island USA: Justine & Cely's Friendship Is the Reason To Watch This Season
Love Islanders typically spend the summer making out with anyone and everyone in their quest for love. But this season, it's all about friendship.
In between Mackenzie’s endless stream of attention-seeking breakdowns, something truly adorable is brewing on this summer’s season of Love Island. It’s the kind of relationship a girl dreams about all her life, full of laughter, love, and all the support she could ever want. It’s the friendship between Justine and Cely, a match made in Love Island heaven. Are they coupled up? Who knows and who cares, because the less time they spend with their partners the better. We want them spending all their time together being the kind of best friends we daydream about having. Let’s take a look back at how the summer’s best relationship came to be.
Things in the villa got off to a rocky start for Justine. She was crushing on Jeremiah, but Jeremiah put her in the friend-zone in favor of pursuing Rachel. Justine was upfront about her feelings with everyone, telling Jeremiah she was into him, and Rachel she wanted to put the friendship first. Justine turned to her new friend, Cely, for solace and advice. Justine confided in Cely about how sad she was over Jeremiah picking Rachel over her. Cely gave her practical advice and told her to give Tre a chance. Justine took Cely’s advice and pulled Tre for a chat. Tre was into the idea of exploring coupling up with Justine. As for Cely, she and Johnny, the hottie with plenty of energy, hit it off instantly. So for a minute there it seemed like everyone was happy. Well, happy enough. But then a game of truth or dare put Kaitlynn on Tre’s radar and Justine’s world went upside down once again. On the eve of the first re-coupling, Cely staked her territory and made it known that she “would be devastated” if Justine were to leave the island, er, casino. We knew they were friends, but not the kind of friends that would be devastated to lose each other. This was a very exciting development. And then the friendship gods smiled upon them and Tre picked Justine, sending Kaitlynn packing. It should be mentioned that the other ladies were distraught over Kaitlynn’s dismissal, but Cely? Cely was beaming. Her bestie was saved.
The next relationship milestone for the adorable duo came during the wet’n’wild carwash challenge. Please feel free to use your imagination as to the point of this challenge, because outside of getting the girls dressed up in booty jorts and soaking wet before laying a passionate kiss on one of the boys, there was no point. But back to the girls. Now, by this time, Jeremiah had been sent home, Justine was coupled up with Tre, and Rachel was coupled up with the new hottie, Caleb. So when Justine decided to kiss Caleb at the end of her soapy striptease, everyone held their breath. Well, except for Cely. Cely let out her inner-cheerleader. While the other girls went quiet, wondering what Rachel’s wrath would look like, Cely exclaimed, “You go, girl,” and cheered Justine on in her quest to win Caleb for herself. After the challenge, Rachel sat with Kierstan and Moira and declared her friendship with Justine officially over. Annoyed, Rachel declared, “it’s not friend island, it’s love island.”
Meanwhile, Justine and Cely discussed the situation in a different astroturf covered corner. Justine couldn’t understand Rachel’s response, noting that when Rachel and Jeremiah were cracking on, despite Justine’s feelings for Jeremiah, Justine was adult enough to put her friendship with Rachel first. Cely, ever the cheerleader, just told Justine over and over how much she loved her. And we all screamed at our TV how much we loved them, and then bit our nails waiting for the next re-coupling. We didn’t have to wait long. At the next re-coupling, Tre picked Lauren the Brit, leaving Caleb to choose between Rachel and Justine. The producers milked the moment for all they could, and, in the end, Caleb picked Justine. Again, Cely rejoiced. After Rachel left, Cely and Justine sat together laughing about how nervous they’d been that Justine might’ve been the one to go home. This time though, Cely wouldn’t have just been devastated. Cely joked that were Justine to have been dumped, she was going to pack her bags and leave the villa right alongside her. Awwwwww! As many times as Love Island fans have seen islanders follow their dumped partners out the door, it’s just never felt real. Cely following Justine out the door? You bet THAT would have felt real.
Then Cely and Johnny went up against Justine and Caleb in the “put your face in a wedding cake” challenge. Again, please use your imagination to determine the point of this challenge. Regardless of purpose, the foursome had a blast driving their faces into frosting-covered cakes while dressed up like brides and grooms circa 1982. Cely and Johnny won, but the outcome was beside the point. We were just excited to watch the friends go head-to-head and keep it fun. They were competitive, but respectful. True champions proving that they know how important it is to always put the friendship first. With a rock-solid friendship, Cely and Justine were in a good place when the boys went off to the Casa Amor. When they worried about their boys, they comforted each other and sprayed Johnny and Caleb’s closets with holy water, praying for their swift and faithful return. At the re-coupling post Casa Amor, Cely held Justine’s hand as she waited to see if Caleb would return solo or with a new girl on his arm. And when Caleb returned solo, Cely jumped up to hug her friend. They embraced and cried tears of joy. And later, when Cely awaited Johnny’s return, Justine returned the support and took Cely’s hand. Then, when Johnny returned alone, Justine pulled Cely into her arms in happy relief. That’s the kind of support you can’t find just any old place. That’s the kind of support you can only find in the truest trust and love. As these two babes hugged and cried, every woman in America thought of her best friend and sent a text just to say, “Thank you. I love you.”
Justine and Cely help each other get dressed. They make each other laugh harder than anyone else in the villa. They tell each other how beautiful and smart and clever they are. They cry with each other. They believe in each other’s relationships. They (probably) fill up each other’s water bottles. They are the friendship pair everyone dreams of one day becoming. Sure, we hope their respective relationships work out (Johnny and Caleb seem like cool dudes), but honestly, the only relationship we want to make sure stands the test of time is theirs. In fact, here’s to hoping CBS gives Cely and Justine their own spinoff series: Justine and Cely Take the World. “It’s that friendship for me!"
Love Island season 2 airs everyday of the week at 9pm EST on CBS.