TJ Palma isn’t ruling out a reunion with Iris Kendall when she’s out of the Love Island USA villa — revealing her initial instinct was to leave Fiji with him.
“When [I was first eliminated], she was super upset and everything. She’s like, ‘There’s nothing here for me anymore. I wanna leave. I wanna leave,’” TJ told Us Weekly during an exclusive interview on Thursday, July 10. “And then basically the guys helped me pack my bags and the girls helped the girls pack their bags and we [separated]. While she was upstairs helping to pack the other girls, I guess the girls kind of convinced her to stay a day or two and feel it out and not act out of emotion right now. So when we had a conversation after, she was already like, ‘I’m gonna probably stay a day or two and just feel it out.’”
TJ told Us that he supported Iris’ decision to stay in the villa.
“I was like, ‘Hey, listen, this is your experience. That’s just what you’re here for. I don’t want you to regret it. You only have a week left, you might as well continue.’ Like, obviously, I want her to go home with me and I wanted her to leave, but I’m not gonna force anyone to do anything,” he explained. “And I felt like she would be doing herself a disservice if she just left with me because I feel it is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I didn’t want to take that away from her. That’s kind of how we left off.”
‘Love Island USA’ Star Iris Kendall’s Team Breaks Silence After Huda and Jeremiah Love Triangle
Since TJ’s exit, Iris has moved on with his friend Pepe Garcia — and quickly.
Iris, Pepe Ben Symons/Peacock
“It was definitely a shock at first [and] something I wasn’t expecting,” TJ admitted to Us. “But looking back, I think it has been a long time coming. They both came in together and they’ve had a lot of shared experiences and they really know each other well. If she was gonna get to know anyone, it would probably be him. I’m not mad about it.”
While the outside world might not understand, TJ points out: “That’s what Love Island is for.”
Love Island USA’s Charlie on His ‘Mistake’ With Amaya, Hannah’s Future With Pepe and Hopes to Return
“I’m just glad that they’re going through with the experience, if that makes sense,” he continued. “And they’re not like, ‘Oh s***, TJ is my friend or I was coupled up with TJ, this is wrong.’, I’m glad that they’re actually pursuing something.”
Still, watching Iris and Pepe hasn’t been easy for TJ.
“I’m human. It’s definitely not the best,” he said of watching their connection unfold. “And you don’t see everything, so it always has my mind wondering.”
No matter what happens, TJ is planning to connect with Iris outside the show.
Who Runs Social Media Accounts for ‘Love Island USA’ Season 7 Stars While They Are in the Villa?
“I think the best thing is to have a conversation after it’s all said and done and see truly what happened — how she’s actually feeling and just go from there,” he said. “It would be silly to just leave it all in the past.”
In the meantime, he’s using poking fun at the awkward situation on social media. “It’s my coping mechanism,” he joked.
New episodes of Love Island USA stream on Peacock every weekday — but Wednesday — starting at 9 p.m. ET.