Amaya Espinal and Bryan Arenales made history as the first-ever Latino couple to win Love Island USA last year. The two bonded on Season 7 over their shared cultures, and walked away with the $100,000 cash prize when America voted them the No. 1 couple in the villa. Unfortunately, their whirlwind romance came to an end shortly after they filmed the reunion last summer.
Following the Season 7 finale, Amaya and Bryan seemed eager to continue their exclusive relationship outside of the villa. At the time, Bryan told DECIDER, “I think the next steps are to just catch up with family and go see family and eventually get our families to meet each other. We want to see each other’s family. We’re both huge on family.”
However, it all came crashing down in August when Amaya released a statement confirming their split. “My papayas—Bryan and I are no longer together,” she wrote on her Instagram Story on Aug. 27. “After leaving the villa, it became very clear that we were on two different journeys. Our visions didn’t align and relationships are supposed to be a team sport. You don’t have to drink the whole sea to know it’s salty. All love here, and I truly wish him the best.”
Neither party has explicitly revealed the root cause of their split … until now. In the Season 2 premiere of Love Island: Beyond the Villa, both Amaya and Bryan opened up about their shocking breakup. Keep reading to find out what they said.
Why did Amaya and Bryan break up?
The first episode of Love Island: Beyond the Villa reveals the real reason why Amaya and Bryan broke up back in August 2025, just over a month after they won Love Island USA Season 7.
There were, of course, rumors that Bryan was cheating on Amaya after videos of him partying with other women surfaced before the reunion. Bryan, for his part, claimed he was adjusting to being in the public eye, but stood by his promise that he did not cheat on Amaya while they were together. So, what really happened?
Amaya said she invited Bryan to meet her family, but he canceled over a stomach ache — only to end up “back out at a bar drinking again” that same night. While Bryan admitted to going out with his friends in Miami when he should’ve been meeting Amaya’s family, he also said that he and Amaya had gotten into an “extremely bad argument” the day before, during which he pointed out that they both weren’t happy.
According to Amaya, Bryan ultimately broke up with her over a text message shortly after filming the reunion, and not long after they had sex for the first time.
“[It was my] first time being intimate with him — he knows how serious I take that and that I’m not an easy girl — and then, boom, he breaks up with me through a text message. To me, that’s coward behavior,” she said in her confessional, before tearfully adding, “I finally told him I loved him and I thought we were gonna be endgame.”
Why did Iris and Pepe break up?
Amaya and Bryan weren’t the only Season 7 finalists to break up since leaving the villa. Iris Kendall and Pepe Garcia also didn’t last very long once they reentered the real world. According to Iris, the cheating allegations surrounding Pepe forced her to end their relationship.
“The reason why it didn’t work out was because I was getting messages from girls telling me horrible things about Pepe,” she said. “After the reunion, Pepe’s cheating scandal happened. I’m not OK with that. I’m not OK with Pepe lying.”
Fortunately, Iris wasn’t single for very long, as she rekindled her villa romance with TJ Palma, and the two have been inseparable ever since.
How to watch Love Island: Beyond the Villa Season 2:
The first two episodes of Love Island: Beyond the Villa Season 2 are currently streaming on Peacock. New episodes will release on the streamer every Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
Peacock currently offers two subscription types: Premium with ads and Premium Plus ad-free. Peacock Premium costs $10.99/month, while Premium Plus costs $16.99/month.
You can save a bit by subscribing to one of Peacock’s annual plans, which give you 12 months for the price of 10. These cost either $109.99 with ads or $169.99 without ads.
Peacock Premium Plus is also available to subscribe to via Prime Video with a seven-day free trial that you can’t get by subscribing directly on Peacock.