Daia’s Love Island Villa Entry Was “Worst-Case Scenario” For Her

Daia McGhee wants to set the record straight: There’s a lot you didn’t see about her time on Love Island USA. The 27-year-old started her Season 6 journey during Casa Amor, the famously drama-filled second villa used to test existing relationships on the show. Though she had her sights set on Kordell Beckham from the start, she says now that she was missing some crucial context about his situation with Serena Page.

“I had watched the show up until when Serena and Nigel [Okafor] went on a date,” McGhee tells Elite Daily. “To that point, I know Serena and Kordell got on really well, but thought they were more like friends.” She hadn’t seen that Page decided to give Beckham another chance, or that they had gotten physical the night before Casa. It wasn’t until she got back into the villa with Beckham that she realized how strong his connection with Page was. “When I saw Kordell's reaction to Serena being upset, I realized he really, really liked her,’” McGhee says. “She was also so emotional, and no one gets that upset over someone they don’t like.”

McGhee and Page became close friends despite their rocky start, and by the time McGhee was dumped from the island on the July 11 episode, the two women were standing next to each other at the fire pit, holding hands. McGhee says they will “definitely” be hanging out in the real world, too.

Below, McGhee opens up about the moments fans didn’t see from her Love Island journey, plus the most surprising thing about life in the villa.

Elite Daily: Welcome home! How does it feel to be back?

Daia McGhee: Honestly, I was so ready. I know this sounds terrible, but I was so excited to go back home and be in my bed and see my family and friends.

ED: What surprised you the most, seeing all the Internet discourse and fan reactions to the show?

DM: I was mainly surprised about the Odell Beckham Jr. comment [from the shady tweets game] because I knew in my heart that I never wrote that. I don’t think I ever followed him, and it’s not like me to just start commenting stuff on guy’s photos. When I got out, that was the first thing I researched, and there were pages and pages on Google all about this fake comment. Even the heart is not Photoshopped properly.

All the hate I got from that was a little shocking because I thought I tried to show myself in a good light. We were filming 24 hours a day, which gets cut down to 45 minutes, so you’re not seeing everything. I expected some people not to like me but didn’t know it was going to be like 80% of people sending me hate comments.

ED: You came in as a Casa Amor girl and developed a strong connection with Kordell in that bubble. I imagine it felt like a vibe shift going back to the villa and meeting Serena. What was the best-case scenario that you hoped would happen?

DM: Based on what I had seen from the show at that point, I felt like my connection with Kordell was more romantic than what he had before [with Serena].

Going into the villa, I hoped Serena had found someone she liked from the Casa boys so it wouldn’t be as awkward. But then the absolute worst-case scenario happened: She didn’t connect with anyone in Casa. She was super pissed off, which I could completely understand and imagine.

ED: It seems like you and Serena ended up forming a great relationship despite your rocky start. How did that happen?

DM: The first night when the recoupling happened, we did not speak at all. The Casa girls were on one end of the villa, and the OG girls were on the other. They absolutely hated us, which is understandable to an extent, but then Kaylor [Martin] tried to smile at us, and one of them was like, “Why are you smiling at them?” It was crazy. The second day was still like that, and we had a little powwow with all the girls to talk it out.

I was really supportive of their relationship, even though I don’t think it looked like that in the show.

After my first chat with Serena, she went over to Kordell, had a conversation with him, and then came right back over to talk to me about what he said. From that point on, whenever she was upset, she’d go to her girls, but she’d also come to me. I was having my own problems with Kordell, and he was pissing me off, too. But I’d tell her, “I think you guys will work it out and get through it.”

I was really supportive of their relationship, even though I don’t think it looked like that in the show. She and I were together all the time, and we shared clothes. At the recoupling, we held hands, and I smiled the whole time Kordell gave his speech to her. I was like, “Go get your man.” She hugged me straight away. We have a good connection, which I know is hard for a lot of people to believe.

ED: What do you think of Kordell and Serena now?

DM: I’m definitely happy for them, and I hope they win. I feel like a lot of people love them and are supporting them.

ED: What’s something surprising about living in the villa that fans might not expect?

DM: Waking up in the morning is shocking. You’re in bed, sleeping peacefully because it’s super dark in the room, and then all of a sudden there’s a bunch of lights, and you’re like, “Oh, my God...”

ED: Do they really just turn all the lights on at once?

DM: That’s how we’re woken up. It was cool the first time, like, “Wow, I’m really in Love Island right now!” But after that, I put a blanket over my head every morning.

ED: How early do they wake you up?

DM: We don’t know because we don’t know the time, but I think it depends. If we go to bed late one night, they’ll wake us up later in the morning.

ED: So you don’t ever know what time it is? That sounds like such a weird liminal space.

DM: It’s kind of nice, to be honest. It’s like you’re on vacation and you don’t have to worry about anything.

ED: Are there any moments that didn’t get shown that you wish people had gotten to see?

DM: I haven’t watched any episodes with me other than the one where I left, so I don’t know what made the cut and what didn’t. But there were some days when the producers would play music and all the girls would have a karaoke session. That’s what brought the OG and Casa girls a lot closer, because we had singing sessions for hours and had the best time.

It was kind of like a fever dream, and then I woke up, and I’m back to real life.

ED: You said you were happy to come home. What are you most excited about, being back in the real world?

DM: It didn’t feel like real life to me in the villa. I came out and was like, “What the hell just happened?” It was kind of like a fever dream, and then I woke up, and I’m back to real life. Obviously, we couldn’t leave the villa, but I’m really excited to be able to travel, see my family, and move freely.

ED: Do you think you’ll go back and watch the whole season?

DM: I don’t know. I might be cringed out by myself. So many things happened, and I’m very strong on my side of the story, but I know it was edited down so much. I almost don’t want to see that. But I am curious to see other perspectives, and I might watch to see what everyone else was going through.

ED: You mentioned rooting for Serena and Kordell, but are you shipping anyone else to win?

DM: I keep saying my Top 3 because I can’t pick one. My No. 1 is Kordell and Serena, obviously, because they’re really cute together. I love Kendall [Washington] and Nicole [Jacky]. Kendall is such a sweet, genuine person, and Nicole is lovely as well. She was one of the girls who showed us around when we first went to the villa. So I think she’s sweet. And then also JaNa [Craig] and Kenny [Rodriguez] — I just want to keep going on. I love everyone.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.