Love Island USA’s Nicole Jacky Sets the Record Straight on Where She and Kendall Washington Stand

Spoilers for the Love Island USA season six reunion ahead.  

While receiving a text is a coveted moment on Love Island USA, outside the villa Nicole Jacky has largely stayed away from her phone.

In the weeks since the July 21 season six finale, the 26-year-old, who finished fourth place alongside Kendall Washington, has admitted to struggling to navigate life after Fiji. But while many have speculated that her and Kendall’s romance didn’t make it off the island, Nicole is making it clear that’s not the case—even if things are a little complicated at the moment.

“Me and Kendall are still together,” she told E! News in an exclusive interview, “but it's been hard.”

“I think for me, the one thing I asked for in a relationship is honesty, and he hasn't been giving me that,” she continued. “So, trying to navigate like how you move forward and trust someone. And it's such a special situation too.”

Indeed, as the final four couples—which also included winners Serena Page and Kordell Beckham, runners up Leah Kateb and Miguel Harichi as well as third place finishers JaNa Craig and Kenny Rodriguez—geared up to exit the villa, an explicit video of Kendall leaked online. And as Nicole revealed, she and Kendall have struggled in the wake of the devastating experience over his initial explanation—which she later learned was not true.

“I thought we were going to come out and just be super strong,” she explained. “I know there's always going be problems. I knew there were going be things said. I just wish we both could have handled it with honesty together.”

At the reunion, which aired Aug. 19, Nicole called out the “f--ked up” leak and emphasized the “nobody deserves that.” However, she took issue with what Kendall telling her it was a video from years ago, only for her to learn from costar JaNa just days later that it was filmed in a hotel right before he entered the villa.

For his part, Kendall took ownership of the situation. “I 100 percent should have been honest with Nicole in that moment,” he told his fellow islanders and host Ariana Madix at the reunion, “but I honestly wasn’t ready. Literally, my life was turned upside down.”

Reflecting on how he “couldn’t talk to his family” about what he was going through in the wake of the video leak, he told Nicole that simply hadn’t known what to say. And amid the emotional back and forth, Kendall expressed frustration for how their dynamic halted in the wake of the video.

“I’ve been trying so hard for us,” he told Nicole. “That’s why I hate this f--king s--t happened and it led to this domino effect of us not being able to communicate.”

To which Nicole, who spoke about feeling like she was getting heat on social media over their status, responded, “This just puts me in such a f--ked position because I care about you too and I love you. And people are questioning that.”

But while the duo is still trying to find their footing together following a rocky return to the real world, Nicole told E! she sees it going one of two ways.

“It's either going make us really, really strong,” she said pointedly, “or it's going to break us.”

The Love Island USA season six reunion is streaming now on Peacock.

(E! and Peacock are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)