The Love Island USA MAGA controversy is nothing new – here’s what happened last season
Apologies were given left, right and centre
The Love Island USA MAGA controversy has erupted this season, but it’s nothing new compared to 2025. Basically, multiple islanders were called out for seemingly resharing or posting support for Donald Trump before entering the villa, so here’s what happened.
Austin Shepard was called out
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Back when Love Island USA season six just started airing, people noticed that he was resharing really political views on his TikTok page and appearing to support Donald Trump, including someone wearing a MAGA hat, as well as videos opposing Kamala Harris.
There’s a video that everyone is mad about which his account reposted, that shows a Black man “destroying a Black woman who said she’s voting for Kamala”. However, the account has not personally shared any views on Trump of his own, and just reshared other videos.
After leaving the villa, Austin wrote: “As you all know, I have a very dry sense of humour, and I genuinely didn’t think before sharing that content. It was never my intention to hurt or upset anyone. I value and respect all individuals and their perspectives.”
“I recognise that my choice of content did not resonate well with everyone, and for that, I sincerely apologise. I’m committed to learning from this experience and to being mindful in the future. Thank you for your understanding and for holding me accountable,” he added.
Andrea Carmona supported Trump
@andreacarmonaa This is inhumane. #ICE
Andrea, who went on last season’s Love Island USA as well as Love Island Games, was getting seriously ripped apart. It’s all because her X profile appears to have shared a quote about Donald Trump back in 2019, which is pretty controversial.
Basically, the post said, “Sometimes one must lose, in order to win. – Donald Trump,” which meant it was shared before she even got famous on Love Island USA. And now, years on, people are only just discovering the resurfaced post, and are not happy at all.
Her public party affiliation is the Republican Party of Florida, while she post a TikTok back in June asking people to support a legal defence fund for people taken by ICE, which she donated to. Even then, people were criticising her for her political views.
One person commented on a Reddit discussion: “She has tweets talking about being happy that we have a black president and first female vp. I genuinely don’t believe she’s MAGA and was just quoting him here but you never truly know.”
Islander Charlie followed far-right activists
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Charlie from Love Island USA was wrongly getting slammed for being a Donald Trump supporter, but there is no evidence of him following the president on social media. Some people claim the person managing his account unfollowed Trump after he entered the villa.
He was, however, following Tommy Robinson on Twitter while in the villa, an activist and journalist known for his far right views. His profile also follows Eva Vlaardingerbroek, a far-right commentator and lawyer, as well as Nioh Berg, who describes herself as “anti woke”.
Charlie was also slammed for wearing his hair in braids, which was described by some as cultural appropriation. But when it comes to him allegedly supporting Trump, his brother Zach has spoken out to say the speculation simply isn’t true.
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