Here's What Love Island USA Producers Told The Cast About Cierra's Exit
A former islander tells all.
Cierra Ortega’s Love Island USA exit was pretty anticlimactic when it happened in Episode 30 — especially considering she made up one half of one of the strongest couples in the villa. After screenshots of Cierra using an anti-Asian slur gained traction online, the narrator announced that she had left the show “due to a personal situation.” Since then, the rest of the cast — including Nic Vansteenberghe, who was coupled up with Cierra — barely discussed the shocking departure.
On July 8, Zak Srakaew, a fellow islander who left the show after Cierra, shared what went down behind the scenes and what producers told the contestants about Cierra’s exit. “When Cierra left, the producers gathered us all together,” he said on TikTok live. “They said, ‘Unfortunately, Cierra has broken some of the policies and our guidelines and she will no longer be here in the villa. That is the only information we can give you guys.’”
“So when we were all in there, we didn’t really know what was going on,” Zak continued. “But that is all they said to us. And if we needed someone to speak to, we can speak to them.”
Zak also offered some insight into Nic’s reaction to Cierra leaving. “Nic was really upset that she left, but at the same time, he couldn’t really be super upset or he couldn’t express how he felt about the situation until he found out what she had done or said,” he added. “At the end of the day, as much as you want to feel sorry for somebody, if you know they got removed from a show for saying something offensive, you can’t really feel sorry for them until you know what it is.”
As of publication, Cierra has not directly addressed the controversy. However, her parents released a statement on her Instagram story. “We’re not here to justify or ignore what’s surfaced. We understand why people are upset, and we know accountability matters,” they wrote, while also criticizing the “threats” and “attacks” from people online.
“While Cierra is not in the villa anymore, she is still away. She hasn’t had the chance to process any of this or speak for herself. But we know our daughter. We know her heart. And when she returns, we believe she’ll face this with honesty’s growth, and grace,” Cierra’s parents’ statement continued.
