Nic Vansteenberghe responded to ex-girlfriend Cierra Ortega’s social media criticism of his relationship with Olandria Carthen during an appearance on the Baby, This is Keke Palmer podcast on August 19.
The Love Island USA season 7 contestant addressed Cierra’s TikTok video where she claimed he “never actually liked me and wanted my friend the entire time.”
“Yeah, I saw that,” Nic said about the post. “I was taking my time to process things, and that video just was so off-putting for me.”
Breaking Down the Drama
Cierra was sent home mid-season after posts of her using a racial slur resurfaced online. This left Nic single in the villa.
He eventually coupled up with Olandria. The pair finished second in the finale and are still together.
After her exit, Cierra posted a video using the “you look happier” trend. She said she looked happier because “I didn’t end up with the guy who never actually liked me and wanted my friend the entire time.”
Nic said he and Cierra haven’t spoken since she left the villa.
“Especially the way I spoke – I still speak so positively about her after she posted that – and I spoke so positively about our relationship before that,” he explained. “I never once bashed her. I never once told her that I wasn’t interested in her.”
Defending His Actions
Nic pointed out that in his first post-season interviews, he emphasized how much he “cared about her.” Making their relationship exclusive was “a big thing” for him.
“Through her leaving the villa and then exploring Olandria, which is what Love Island‘s about, I found this great connection, amazing connection with Olandria, and then she’s bashing me for that.”
“So to me, I was like, ‘All right. I’m going to take that on the chin. That’s fine if you feel that way, but I’m going to keep moving on.'”
While admitting things might’ve ended differently had Cierra stayed, Nic said he doesn’t dwell on what could have been.
“Things were how they went,” he said. “When you’re going through being in the villa for two months and then going into this new world of like, you have like paparazzi following you everywhere, you have meetings from morning ’till night, you have a new relationship to focus on, and then you see a post like that. It’s like, why? It just made me feel uncomfortable.”
“I’m happy where I’m at, and I don’t need to indulge in the online negativity,” he added.
Cierra’s Side of the Story
In July, Cierra made a 10-minute video addressing her departure from the show. She said watching Nic and Olandria’s connection develop was painful.
“As I watched as a viewer, from someone on the outside, and I saw their connection forming, I was like, ‘Damn, okay. It f—— hurts,'” she said.
She also said she expected to hear from them after the show ended but never did.
“As the days went on, and it just kind of felt like I never existed, and like the friendship Olandria and I shared had never existed, and the relationship that Nic and I shared had never existed, that s— hurts,” she continued. “Being shut down with no closure – it’s closure that I’ve had to provide for myself – it’s a lot.”
The Nic and Olandria Connection
Nic and Olandria later revealed they felt a “spark” during their initial kiss at Casa Amor but chose to ignore it out of respect for Cierra.
“I was like, ‘You know what? I feel so guilty. I’m just going to write it off and say that there wasn’t, out of respect for Cierra,'” Olandria told PEOPLE at the time.
Nic admitted he was Olandria’s “secret admirer from day one.”
When they both became single, pursuing that connection made sense.
“Our connections are no longer here,” he said of his thought process. “Now that those doors are closed, I think we should explore this and enjoy however much time we have left in the villa.”
Olandria added: “The one moment that I did make a decision for me was the best decision I could have ever made, and made my whole experience way better.”
Love Island USA season 7 can be streamed in full on Peacock.
