‘Love Island USA’: Charlie Drops ‘Bomb’ on Alana About Cash Recoupling Drama (Exclusive)

Season 3 of Love Island officially came to a close on Sunday night. Following the finale, PopCulture.com got the chance to speak with all of the final couples about their experiences in the Villa. Alana Paolucci and Charlie Lynch, who came in fourth place, enjoyed a unique journey while on the show. While the two did get to open up about their relationship, the conversation did take a turn when Charlie said that he still has second thoughts about choosing to recouple with Alana over Cashay “Cash” Proudfoot.

Charlie and Alana didn’t couple up until later on in the season. There was a bit of drama surrounding the situation, as Charlie was in the midst of a love triangle of sorts with Alana and Cash. In the end, he chose to recouple with Alana and the pair remained together for the rest of the season. Upon leaving Love Island, Charlie said that he was met with some negativity online in regards to this decision and how he handled it. But, he does have a message to everyone who has something to say about the situation.

“I just think that everybody has to make a decision in life at times, and decisions like that are never easy. […] People shouldn’t judge you just based off one decision and what they see because I feel like, going on this show, I went on there and I wore my heart on my sleeve and put all my emotions out there and, really, I just kept it as real as I could,” he said. “I’m not going to lie, I questioned my decision a lot of the time, and it wasn’t easy. I just feel like people shouldn’t be so quick to pass judgment because nobody’s perfect and everybody has to make their own decisions in life.”

Of course, seeing this online chatter has also taken its toll on Alana who considerately stated how it “hurts [her] to see him hurt.” She continued: “People are really cruel out there sometimes. Especially in social media. I know that he’s a great person and everyone in the Villa knows he’s a great person.” Alana added how “these are all fleeting moments and eventually people forget these things and life moves on,” while further sharing how the pair are “strong” and “knew that this was potentially coming.”

Considering that there is still talk regarding Charlie and Cash and how their relationship panned, you might be wondering where they stand today. According to Charlie, one of the first things that he did after his Love Island experience wrapped up was contact Cash and the two were able to get some closure. He said that he “told her that ‘Hey, I’m still here for you as a friend or whatever the case may be, whatever the cards hold in store for the future.’ But, yeah, I mean, we’re on good terms so that’s definitely… That was a good feeling.”

Charlie also expressed that even though he was happy with the decision he made in the Villa, he still does think about how things would have panned out had he chosen Cash during that recoupling. When asked whether he has any regrets about the season, he said: “I felt like, in the show, I had to kind of hold it together and, although everything I said and everything I did, it was a hundred percent true. But, part of me does think about the decision that I made and just how different things would have been.”

This statement came as quite a shock to Alana, who said that Charlie “dropped a bomb” on her by revealing that he still thinks about whether he made the right decision during that recoupling. Charlie said that this revelation “doesn’t take away from anything that I said about Alana or my actions towards her, but, obviously us being in that environment, you have to make decisions.” He then apologized to Alana during the PopCulture.com interview “for dropping this like that.” As for how Alana felt about hearing this information, she didn’t say too much. But, she did say that she was “processing” her emotions, later adding: “The truth comes out. It’s totally fine.”

All episodes of Love Island USA Season 3 are currently available to stream on Paramount+. Disclosure: PopCulture is owned by ViacomCBS Streaming, a division of ViacomCBS.