One of this year’s Love Island USA contestants has revealed exactly what islanders were told about the circumstances surrounding Cierra Ortega’s sudden exit from the villa.
Ortega, 25, was asked to leave the popular dating show — which follows a group of singles as they enter a secluded villa hoping to couple up and compete in games and challenges — on Sunday following weeks of uproar over resurfaced social media posts which appeared to show her using a derogatory term for Chinese people.
During the show’s voiceover, narrator Iain Stirling said simply that she had left the show due to a “personal situation.”
Fellow contestant Zak Srakaew, 30, who has also now left the villa, explained what the cast were told during an appearance on TikTok Live.
Srakaew said: “The producers gathered us all together, and then they said, ‘Unfortunately, Cierra has broken some of the policies of our guidelines. She will no longer be here in the villa, and that’s the only information we can give you guys.’
“So when we were all in there, we didn’t really know what was going on, but that’s the only thing they said to us.”
At the time she left the show, Ortega had been in a closed-off couple with Nic Vansteenberghe. Her departure left him single, although he has since recoupled with Olandria Carthen.
“Nic was really upset that she left, but at the same time he couldn’t really be super upset or he couldn’t express how he feels about a situation until he found out what she’s done or what she’s said,” Srakaew noted.
“Because at the end of the day, as much as you want to feel sorry for somebody, if you know they got removed from a show for saying something offensive, you can’t really feel sorry for them until you know what it is.”
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Fans of the show unearthed two social media posts, from January 2015 and February 2023, in which she appeared to use a slur offensive to Chinese people to refer in a derogatory manner to her own smile.
Ortega has not yet addressed the reason for her exit from the show, but her parents have issued a statement on her behalf reminding fans to show “compassion” amid the backlash.
“We’ve seen the posts, the headlines, the hurt and the hate. And while Cierra hasn’t seen any of it yet, we have,” they wrote.
“And so have the people who love her. We’re not here to justify or ignore what’s surfaced. We understand why people are upset, and we know accountability matters. But what’s happening online right now has gone far beyond that. The threats. The cruel messages. The attacks on her family, her friends, even her supporters, it’s heartbreaking. It’s uncalled for. And no one deserves that kind of hate, no matter what mistake they’ve made.”
Their statement concluded: “Until then, we’re simply asking for compassion. For patience. For basic human decency. Not just for her, but for everyone caught in the middle of this. Thank you to those who’ve continued to show love, even when it’s not easy.”
