Love Island USA’s Charlie Georgiou Knows He Was Robbed
Recoupling ceremonies can get emotional on Love Island USA, and Sunday’s dumping was particularly brutal. Almost immediately after a conversation in which Charlie Georgiou and Hannah Fields affirmed their connection, they were ripped apart — first when America voted for Fields to couple up with new bombshell Pepe Garcia, then permanently when Cierra Ortega, Chelley Bissainthe, and Amaya Espinal cast the deciding votes to end Georgiou’s stay.
As the villa’s “random British guy,” Georgiou had it rough from the start: He entered as an early bombshell yet failed to attract lasting attention. When bombshell Fields caught his eye, they became arguably the most promising nascent couple of the season, more levelheaded than Jeremiah Brown and Huda Mustafa and more communicative than Ace Greene and Bissainthe. But America just couldn’t ignore Fields’s spark with Garcia, a situation that would’ve been bad enough without the betrayal from Georgiou’s fellow Islanders. During our Zoom conversation a few days after his exit, Georgiou still didn’t have access to his phone and hadn’t watched his season in full. “I’ve seen clips, but to be honest, I don’t really want to,” he says. “It’s kind of hard at the moment to watch it, to see her progress with another guy. It’s not a nice feeling. I don’t think anybody would want to watch someone that they had something with go on with someone else.”
How are you feeling?
I’m gutted about the whole situation. It’s been an emotional roller coaster, just the process of having to accept what’s happened. Sometimes I feel okay about it, and “it is what it is” — not okay but the journey of acceptance. And then I’m like, “Nah, it’s not right, man. I was robbed. Get me back in there.”
I imagine it was especially difficult knowing it didn’t come down to choice. America also didn’t get to see exactly where your relationship with Hannah would end up by the time of voting.
Yeah, it’s brutal in that way — to finally have her choose me in that moment, and to not be able to go beyond that, and to not show the world and each other our journey, what could’ve been. I think we were genuinely robbed. I was robbed.
Were you a Love Island fan before appearing on the show?
Years ago, I watched some of the early Love Island U.K. My mum and brother used to love it, so I knew about it. But the U.S. one — do you want to know how I actually ended up applying? I had a holiday romance with an American girl last year. During that time, she kept telling me about season six. She was like, “Have you heard about Love Island USA? It’s really popping off.” I watched bits of it.
When the romance didn’t work out and she went back to America, I was absolutely devastated — I wanted to be there and I felt a little heartbroken. I thought, Why don’t I just apply for Love Island USA season seven? Let’s just see. Who knows what will happen? And not only did it happen, I went in as one of the first bombshells. That’s what brought me to Love Island, and it’s mental, because that’s the way of the world. I had this thing with this girl, I was genuinely so gutted and devastated about it, but if I never met her, I wouldn’t be here speaking to you.
Belle-A also said she watched season six with her ex and applied after he broke up with her.
There seems to be a pattern of heartbroken people applying for Love Island. [Laughs]
What was your experience sharing a villa with all these Americans?
Crazy. Everyone was like a damn movie character to me. I’m sure I was to them as well. They’d say things that would just crack me up, and I’d say something normal, like, “Excuse me, would you be able to pass me that water bottle?” and they’d just all start pissing themselves laughing. There are times when you’re trying to relate, and there’s a bit more difference in terms of the way we’re raised and upbringing and education and experience. But ultimately, I’m really honored and blessed to have just been this random British guy in the middle of Love Island USA.
Are there any differences between how people move here and in the U.K.?
I find that people from the U.K. usually have higher body counts. That’s what it seems. Other than the way that we speak and maybe some subtle sense of humor differences, not different in a crazy way. Flirting, maybe. The way you flirt is a little bit different. There’s no filter. And I like it, the American way. They’re very open.
Moving into the big recoupling ceremony, what did you make of the vote breakdown? I’m curious if you had any thoughts about Austin voting for Taylor, and the suggestion that he sent you home by not voting Huda.
With Austin, I don’t blame his vote. He voted who he felt had the weakest connection, and that’s what you’re supposed to do in that situation. Amaya’s and Cierra’s votes really disappointed me. I came into the journey with Cierra. She knows I was struggling to find a connection in the earlier days. When I found it, she would ask and help and support me through it as well. So for her to go against me and vote, that was sad.
Amaya’s was really disappointing. She had cried in my arms. Hannah and I had looked after Amaya. We really comforted her through times where she was upset. I had a soft spot for her and would always check on her. She knows that that moment where I pulled for her a chat, it wasn’t because I truly wanted to. It was an act of confusion and hurt. She knew that, and she said that to Hannah. She also said Hannah was her closest friend in there, so I struggle to understand why. All I can put it down to is impulsivity and maybe not understanding the conversation Hannah and I truly just had. They didn’t know. All they knew is that it was shaky. The last thing they would’ve seen — ugh. The timing was just so bad. So bad.
Do you think if the other recoupled Islanders had been able to vote, including Hannah, you could have been saved?
That’s a good question. The truth is, Islanders vote who they want to keep on the island. They don’t want to vote who they actually think has the strongest connection. Would Pepe’s bombshell friends have voted for me to leave? Maybe. Hannah, I felt like in the moment, she would’ve saved me. If it was a girls’ coupling up that night, I was sure she was going to pick me because of the conversation we just had. It’s one of those situations where you can’t think of the ifs and the buts because it eats you alive, mate. You kind of just got to swallow it and move on. I’m not saying I wouldn’t go back in there to do it again, you know what I mean? But they didn’t vote. It was the other Islanders.
Was there ever some part of you that expected or hoped Hannah would leave with you?
No. Two reasons: One, it’s such a unique and rare experience that not many people get. Just because I was robbed of it, I don’t think she should have been robbed of it too. Second, we were just on that verge. Had we had a week or two after that conversation, maybe the feelings would have been so intense by then that it would’ve been different. But unfortunately, they cut us off.
If you personally could have voted out one of the new singles — Huda or Taylor — who would you have voted for?
I didn’t know if Taylor and Olandria’s connection was as strong. Although Huda and Jeremiah’s relationship was iffy, they’d been together the longest. I truly believe my and Hannah’s relationship was strong. No one was like us in there. So then maybe I looked at Taylor and Olandria’s, and I wasn’t sure. I didn’t see much of them. So maybe I’d vote that way.
What do you think of America’s other choices, to couple up Iris and Jeremiah along with Jalen and Olandria?
Jalen and Olandria, I can understand why they put them together: both from the South, country, maybe same values and traditions. Jeremiah and Iris … I think they knew what they were doing with that. The Pepe and Hannah one, I don’t understand. I don’t know whether it was just to rustle up the game and stir the pot.
Did you have any strong connections or friendships in the villa that we didn’t get to see?
Friendships, yeah, loads. With the boys. Very close with Jeremiah, Austin, Nic, all the boys. The girls, we were more speaking on friendship levels toward my situation with Hannah. Although me and Chelley started off trying to create moments, in the end, she was kind of speaking to me more about how to go about the situation with Hannah. But this is the thing, mate: It’s an awkward situation where, genuinely, the only person in the villa that I was really happy to explore was Hannah.
What will you take away from this experience?
Maybe I’d just like to date in the normal world. [Laughs] Maybe I’m happy with just going on a date with someone, saying good-bye, and not knowing who they’re going into a room with to kiss.
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