Sean From Love Island Reveals If He's A Better Match For Aniya Than KC

He may have only spent a week in the Love Island USA Season 8 villa, but Sean Reifel left with several close connections — the strongest of which wasn’t even shown. In his Aftersun interview, Sean made it very clear that he still has interest in Aniya Harvey. And now that he’s watched the episodes for himself, he can see why that may confuse some viewers.

“I don’t think any of my chats with Aniya made the edit, but we really did vibe together in the villa,” Sean says. “I was pulling her for chats, we had great conversation, and she told me, ‘I'm open to pursuing you romantically. The connection is there. However, I'm really enjoying my time with KC [Kuman Chandler].’ So it never came to fruition.”

Things may have been different if Sean remained in the villa for a bit longer, though. He reveals that KC was aware he was also exploring a connection with Harvey. “She definitely wasn’t off-limits,” Sean says. “I told KC I was interested in Aniya. He knew I was pursuing her.”

As much as it hurts to say, I think KC may be a better match for her than me.

But now that he’s on the outside, Sean is rooting for Aniya and KC, even through their recent rough spot where Aniya expressed feeling like a safe choice for her partner. “If I could tell Aniya one thing, she is not a safe option. She is the No. 1 option,” Sean says. “I know the attraction is there between KC and Aniya, so it was surprising to see [them at odds]. But I think they’re a very good match. As much as it hurts to say, I think KC may be a better match for her than me.”

While his chats with Aniya never fully panned out, Sean did form a sort of pseudo-couple with Kenzie Annis after both were left single following the season’s first bombshell arrivals. But at the first elimination, a secret twist allowed newbie Corbin Mims to pair up with Kenzie before she could decide on her own partner, which resulted in Sean leaving the island.

“I felt so confident that Kenzie was going to pick me. I was so sure,” Sean says. As Sean left the villa, Kenzie said that she was going to choose Corbin if she had the option — and the comment was difficult for Sean to hear. “When I got to watch the episodes and saw that she said I wouldn't have been picked anyway, I was like, ‘Ah, man,’” Sean says. “I do think she was telling the truth, but in the back of my mind there's that little bit of hope that's like, ‘Nah, she just said that for that moment and it still would've been me.’”

After Kenzie was off the table, Sean still had one last hope to stay in the villa: Trinity Tatum. Though he had expressed interest in Trinity, he could tell his Love Island journey had come to an end when she was forced to choose between himself and Bryce Dettloff.

“At that point, I was like, ‘I have no shot,’” Sean says. “But then she said, ‘We haven’t had many chats,’ and me, KC, and Sincere [Rhea] all had this excited look like, ‘Oh my God, she’s going to pick me!’ But right after that she goes, ‘I love his quirky jokes,’ and I knew it was Bryce. So I went from no hope at all, to thinking she was going to pull this crazy choice, and right back to knowing it’s definitely Bryce.”