“Nicolandria,” as they’re known, were a slow burn on season seven of “Love Island” in 2025, but fans were rabid about a potential friends-to-lovers connection — and after Vansteenberghe’s former partner, Cierra Ortega, was removed from the show, the path was clear for Vansteenberghe and Carthen to make it romantic.
They came in second during their season and are still going strong nearly a year later.
Vansteenberghe, who is based in Florida, spoke about being in a long-distance relationship during a brief cameo in the second season of “Beyond the Villa.” Carthen lives in Houston.
“Honestly, our schedules have been aligning up pretty nicely,” he said. “She coincidentally was in LA yesterday, so we got dinner, chilled, kicked it. Just pray that it aligns.”
