Cierra Delivers Dry Zinger on Nic & Olandria’s Villa Romance
Jaden Patel
Here is the latest episode of “people get removed from reality TV and then make ironic vacation announcements.” Cierra Ortega took to Instagram two weeks after her Love Island USA exit to give a dry breakdown of Nic Vansteenberghe’s quick switch to Olandria Carthen. She kicked things off with a cryptic caption on a July 20 Greece getaway video saying “You look happier,” and added, “Thanks, I booked a flight to Mykonos after surviving the villain edit on reality TV and I didn’t end up with the guy who never actually liked me and wanted my friend the entire time.”
The clip itself featured audio that bluntly observed, “I didn’t even actually get to break up with him and he’s already with the next girl.” It was the kind of self aware moment social media eats for breakfast. Since being removed from the Villa in Fiji on the July 6 episode due to her past use of a racial slur, Cierra has repeatedly acknowledged her mistake and asked fans to spare her family from online harassment.
In a July 9 video Cierra said that her loved ones have faced ICE threats at their doorstep and that she has received death threats herself. “My family doesn’t feel safe in their own home,” she stated. “I don’t think you fight hate with hate,” she continued, insisting she understood the consequences of her actions even if viewers were confused about why she said what she said.
Meanwhile, Nic Vansteenberghe, who ultimately finished runner-up alongside Olandria, addressed his choice to stay in the Villa on the Chicks in the Office podcast on July 15. He described the day Cierra left as “completely normal,” explaining he had no context for the controversy and worried that leaving prematurely might seem like supporting her past behavior. He told hosts that he needed time to process the information and align it with his values before making any irreversible decision.
Peacock and E! News notes that this season of Love Island USA operates on a tight turnaround. Fiji’s time difference gives editors an extra 16 hours to assemble scenes from the 85 hidden cameras scattered around the villa. Executive producer Claudine Parrish told The Wrap that up to 30 editors and 20 producers work in real time to craft each daily episode, snipping footage mere minutes after it happens and weaving it into the larger narrative.
Cierra’s Mykonos vacation should be overpowered by sunshine, not controversy, but you can still count on her to deliver the perfect deadpan one liner when social media demand peaks. If nothing else, we have travel envy. Well, there you have it. Humanity at its finest.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and E! News, Peacock, Instagram, Chicks in the Office, The Wrap
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
