Love Island USA has dismissed cast member Vasana Montgomery from the upcoming eighth season after resurfaced videos allegedly showed her using a racial slur. Deadline reported that the 25-year-old from Beaverton, Oregon, will no longer appear on the Peacock reality dating series. A Peacock spokesperson said the videos were privately owned and were not publicly available until after Montgomery’s announcement, meaning they could not be reviewed during the casting vetting process before her removal.
The decision comes as Love Island USA prepares to launch Season 8 on June 2 at 9 p.m. ET and 6 p.m. PT, with Ariana Madix returning as host. The show’s official Instagram account recently urged viewers to “keep it kind, keep it positive” ahead of the premiere.
Montgomery’s exit marks the second consecutive year the series has removed a contestant before or shortly after premiere due to racist remarks. In June 2025, Season 7 islander Yulissa Escobar left the villa one day after the premiere following backlash over a video in which she repeatedly used the N-word. Her departure was acknowledged on air with a brief statement during the second episode. Escobar later apologized, though she later posted on social media minimizing the seriousness of her behavior.
A month later, fellow Season 7 contestant Cierra Ortega was also removed from the show after using an offensive racial slur against Asians. Narrator Iain Stirling addressed her exit in Episode 30 by saying she had left “due to a personal situation.” Ortega later issued a statement describing her comments as unacceptable, but stopped short of calling it an apology video. She said she took accountability for using the word and claimed she did not understand it was a slur or know its meaning.
The new cast originally announced for Season 8 included Aniya Harvey of Tyrone, Georgia; Beatriz Hatz of San Diego, California; Bryce Dettloff of Los Angeles, California; Gabriel Vasconcelos of Miami, Florida; KC Chandler of Fresno, California; Kenzie Annis of Kennesaw, Georgia; Melanie Moreno of Los Angeles, California; Sean Reifel of Easton, Pennsylvania; Sincere Rhea of Cape May, New Jersey; Trinity Tatum of Newport News, Virginia; and Zach Georgiou of Birmingham, England.
Love Island USA is produced by ITV America in association with Lifted Entertainment and Motion Entertainment, a WPP Media company, and is distributed by ITV Studios. Executive producers include David George, Adam Sher, Jordana Hochman, Bernie Schaeffer, Ben Thursby-Palmer, James Barker, Blake Garrett, Courtney Rosenthal, Sophie Brown, Richard Cowles, Mike Spencer, Tom Gould, Ali Hill and Martin Oxley.
The series follows a record-breaking Season 7 and will release new episodes daily during premiere week, except on Wednesdays thereafter.
