Two Cal State Fullerton alums have coupled up on the latest season of “Love Island USA.”
The Peacock reality television dating series is based on the popular UK series and features single contestants who spend their summer in Fiji, unplugged from the rest of the world, as they try to couple up with other Islanders for the chance to win $100,000. Unique to this series, compared to other popular reality television dating shows like “Bachelor in Paradise” and “Love is Blind,” is that it’s filmed in real time, with new episodes airing every day but Wednesday. This means viewers can not only share their opinions online as connections develop between the contestants, but also vote on which contestant they want to keep safe from being “dumped” from the Island.
However, last week during the first vote of the season, viewers were tasked with an unexpected twist. They would be voting for who the new contestants, also known as bombshells, who had just arrived at the villa, would be coupled up with from the current islanders.
One of these bombshells is Cal State Fullerton alum Jose Garcia Gonzalez, known to viewers by his nickname, Pepe. Garcia Gonzalez might also be a familiar face for those who keep up with CSUF basketball, as he played on the team from 2016-2019. His first season on the team, he didn’t play, making him a redshirt freshman for the 2017-2018 season. Prior to his career as a Titan, he attended Los Alamitos High School, where he played on the varsity team for two years.
After graduating from CSUF in 2019, he played for Toros De Torreon in the Mexican Liga de Basquetbol Estatal de Chihuahua in 2022 and for Melilla Sport Capital Enrique Soler in the Spanish Tercera FEB for the 2022-2023 season, before retiring from professional basketball and becoming a personal trainer.
The 27-year-old entered the villa on Day 9, where he connected with Hannah Fields, who entered the villa just a few days earlier on Day 5. In one of their first conversations, they realized they were both Titans. While they didn’t overlap while at CSUF, it did spark a connection between the two.
Fields previously shared on her Instagram account that she graduated Cum Laude from CSUF in 2023 with a degree from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Before her time as a Titan, she attended Monterey High for her junior and senior years, where she played lacrosse, according to KSBW.
Viewers noticed the spark between the two contestants, and when it came time to vote for which islander Garcia Gonzalez would be paired up with, Fields proved the obvious choice.
The pairing led to a dramatic episode because Fields had been coupled up with another Islander, Charlie Georgiou, since entering the villa. While Fields had been open to exploring her connection with Garcia Gonzalez, prior to the re-coupling, Georgiou and Fields had seemed to agree they wanted to remain together. However, viewers didn’t have that context before the vote was live, as the scene was part of the episode where the results were revealed moments later.
Ultimately, in addition to the re-coupling of the three bombshells, Garcia Gonzalez, as well as Iris Kendall and Jalen Brown (who entered the villa at the same time), it meant that the three islanders who had been removed from their couple would be “single and vulnerable.” Host Ariana Madix also shared that one of the single islanders would be eliminated from the island, but that the viewers wouldn’t make this decision; instead, it would be up to the islanders to decide.
The results of the viewers’ vote also came as a shock to the islanders as one of the couples, Huda Mustafa and Jeremiah Brown, have been together since day one and had made it pretty vocal to other contestants that they were “basically closed off” and not wanting to test connections with new arrivals. Discourse began on social media about the couple, with commentary videos and recaps on TikTok, posts on threads, and replies in the comment sections, regarding the dissatisfaction of many viewers with the pairing.
While the results from the vote are not made public, the Love Island USA app also features live polls that viewers can participate in while the episode is airing. In a poll asking viewers who they wanted Kendall to be paired with, 292,748 fans participated, and 76.7% of them voted for Jeremiah Brown.
This, in turn, played a factor in why the islanders’ decision on who should be dumped turned out to be split. All of the contestants seemed to be caught off guard that Kendall and Jeremiah Brown had been paired together, with one of the contestants, Olandria Carthen, acknowledging that “apparently America is hearing some s— and hearing some s— that we have not seen yet.”
Ultimately, when it came time to make the decision, the two men who had not been affected by the recoupling voted to dump Mustafa, and one voted to dump contestant Taylor Williams. However, all of the girls voted to dump Georgiou from the island, meaning he was sent home with three votes.
Throughout the voting, Fields could be seen crying at the risk of losing Georgiou. When it was revealed that he would be going home, she rushed to him and the two embraced in a hug. The two shared a heartfelt goodbye, with Georgiou asking Fields to reconnect outside of the villa.
One of the most notable moments from the season thus far has also been a shot of Fields crying in her bed with a photobooth print of her and Georgiou next to her.
While viewers seemed unsure at first if Fields would be able to move forward in her new situationship with Garcia Gonzalez, it appears she’s still open to the experience. The two went on a group date with the other new couples and look to be moving forward in their relationship.
Additionally, Tuesday night’s episode ended with another recoupling; however, this time, it was decided by the Islanders. Each girl stood behind a locked door and submitted which guy they wanted to be paired up with. The guys then walked up to the door of the girl they wanted to couple up with. If it were a match, the door would unlock; if not, the guy would then be “single and vulnerable.” When it came time for Garcia Gonzalez, he walked up to Fields’ door, which unlocked, meaning the two CSUF alums remain coupled up for the foreseeable future.
New episodes of Love Island USA air Sunday-Tuesday and Thursday-Saturday on Peacock at 6 p.m. PT.