Love Island USA’s Charlie Reacts to Hannah and Pepe, Shares Hopes to Return

Charlie Georgio may have gone viral for a sad photo with his suitcase as he exited the Love Island USA villa, but the Islander is all smiles as he reflects on his time in Fiji.

Us Weekly caught up with Charlie, 27, on Wednesday, June 18, to talk about his connection with Hannah (and what he thinks will happen with her and Pepe), his regrets about his conversation with Amaya and what really is going down with the other Islanders — cough, cough Jeremiah and Huda.

Let’s go back to the beginning. Can you tell me about your initial connection with Hannah and why you guys worked as a couple?
From the moment of that baseball challenge, she jumped out and she was this little ray of light, high energy, kind of like myself. We just instantly clicked. I can’t explain it. It was different to anyone else in the villa. We were just instantly all over each other. We were like little children, laughing, giggling, giddy and walking around the villa — a lot of kissing. I think we just were growing that and then, obviously, we had our situation.

Prior to that now-infamous recoupling, you spoke to Amaya about potentially trying to pursue something with her. What did we not see that led to that decision? And do you regret that? Because it didn’t go so well.
Yeah, of course. Let’s address that for what it was. Me pulling Amaya for a chat was me being confused and hurt and feeling like I had to pull someone for a chat. I never really wanted to explore other people. I was happy and content with Hannah, but I was in a situation where I just also saw her go for another chat with Pepe. Everyone’s telling me, ‘Love Island is about exploring. You’re sitting here, you put all your eggs in one basket and, potentially, if there’s a recoupling, it seems like she’s gonna pick Pepe. Go explore.’ And it wasn’t that there was ever an intimate connection with me and Amaya. I had a soft spot for her. She was an emotional girl and it was a mistake because it eventually added and aided to her vote, which was my downfall. The truth is I felt like I had to [pull her] and I never really wanted to.

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At the recoupling, you immediately make this plea to the other Islanders. What was going through your mind when you started to give that little speech? A lot of people are comparing it to Big Brother when you’re pleading not to get evicted.
It wasn’t that I was just not giving up. These guys don’t even know the conversation I’ve just had with Hannah. They don’t understand that we’ve just gone past our first hurdle. We’ve literally just gotten stronger. We came downstairs ready for the world. All they know is that we’ve been a bit rocky. I had that moment and that chance to pitch — it was about me fighting for my chance to grow and see what happened with me and Hannah. No one else pitched! If you’re gonna vote, I’m at least gonna go out fighting. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.

Were you hopeful?
I always knew I’d be the easier vote, just because the girls were gonna go with Huda and they had a good connection with Taylor as well. knew I was in trouble. However, when Amaya stood up — what people don’t realize is I actually shared moments with Amaya where I comforted her, where she was crying and where she was sad. Me and Hannah both. We often made jokes, Amaya even made these jokes that me and Hannah were like her parents — constantly looking after her.

So I thought, ‘Wow, hold on a sec. Maybe Amaya will save me ’cause she knows what me and Hannah had.’ She said in the conversation with Hannah that she understood why I pulled her for a chat — because I was acting impulsively and I was hurt — but she still decided to vote for me. That vote was the most disappointing, because people don’t realize I’d really rooted for her the entire time and stuck up for her. I was happy that Ace picked her in terms of the fact that she’s gonna get a chance to go on the journey as well, but I was just devastated that she did [vote for me] and genuinely devastated in general about what just happened. It was brutal.

Were you mad at all at your friend Austin for not totally understanding how the voting process worked?
[Laughs] Nah. I think he looked at us three and thought [Taylor’s] got the weakest connection here, in his opinion, and he went on with that. Austin’s a real guy who didn’t think, necessarily, tactically. Huda and Jeremiah had been together since the beginning, so they’d obviously established some kind of connection. Everyone knew me and Hannah had something different in there. It was intense and it was strong. Then I think he looked at Taylor and thought, ‘I don’t know if Olandria and Taylor [are] as strong.’

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It’s so early in the show, but did you have any hope at that moment that Hannah was going to leave with you? I know when you were leaving, you asked her to give you a shot if she comes out of this single.
No. Look, Love Island is such a rare, unique experience that just because I was robbed of it doesn’t mean she should be robbed of it, too. We were just on that verge — had it been another week or two — she might have felt that way or maybe it would’ve been different. But I can’t judge her or blame her. It never crossed my mind.

I know you don’t have your phone back yet, but there are a couple moments that have gone very viral, including Hannah crying with a photo of you guys from the photo booth and also you looking so sad with your suitcase right before you exit.
The emotions are real. I was devastated when I got back to the hotel and I decompressed and all the adrenaline was gone. I was all over the place. The photo [Hannah had], I’d actually given it to her. I came out and I said, ‘Listen, take this.’ And she cried on our bed. People don’t understand that conversation we had. It was condensed down. We had a beautiful, long conversation unraveling each other’s brains and where we were at.

Hannah’s obviously still in the villa. She’s given Pepe another shot. She thinks there might be more to him. Do you think that she’s going to get hurt in this?
All I know is when I spoke to Pepe, he was all about exploring people. He said, ‘If someone comes along, that’s my experience.’ He doesn’t wanna waste his experience just stuck with one girl. So, who knows what goes down with that. She’s gotta move on and give the guy a chance. It pains me because I can’t help but think it should have been me. It’s tough. We’ll see what happens with that. Personally, I think they should send me back in.

Would you go back?
A hundred percent. I’m ready to go. I think it shouldn’t be so soon. Give it some time, let’s see how they get on and then send me back through those doors.

A few questions about your fellow Islanders. As someone who was there, what do you make of Huda and Jeremiah — Is it toxic? Is America misunderstanding their connection? Or is it a combination?
I always felt like those two [would] end it for themselves. There were little things that shouldn’t have been blown up. The pancake instance, for example, the guy was up every morning making pancakes. The one morning he is busy and he can’t make a pancake, [she says], ‘Oh, you are letting another man make me a pancake?’ No guy wants to have to deal with that. There were little things that were making the relationship toxic and I think, naturally, that’s gonna create an issue.

Were you surprised to learn Jeremiah picked Iris in the latest recoupling?
Good for him. I love Jeremiah. Jeremiah is my mate. I miss that guy so much — what a handsome, well-mannered man.

By the way, I do just want to say, if you genuinely are content and happy with the person that you are with in there, you might feel like you have to explore – but sometimes you might not want to. It’s very hard to explore somebody when your feelings aren’t there. So, if he genuinely didn’t want to explore during that time, he didn’t want to explore. But now — with everything that’s happened — now’s the right time for him. Iris is a lovely girl. Let’s see what happens.

Do you have a prediction for Huda’s next move? And did you know in the villa that she’s a mom?
I did not find out she was a mom until I watched the episodes back. I have no judgment on that, but no, I did not know. I don’t know her next steps. If Jeremiah decides that he wants to start growing with someone else, she would obviously be in a very vulnerable situation.

What about Taylor and Olandria? I feel like as an audience member, I’m not totally seeing the connection. But she chose to keep seeing him over Jalen.
I was surprised by that. I thought she was gonna go with Jalen. She didn’t seem that sketched out by the situation when she was recoupled [with Jalen]. I know everybody’s different — not everybody kisses in front of everybody, like me and Hannah were doing — maybe there is something [more there]. I think they are still working each other out. Obviously, he stood up for Cierra and everything, so, maybe, there is something deeper that we just don’t know.

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You also have to remember when you spend a lot of time with someone in [the villa], you do feel a sense of comfortability. I think that’s also where it can get confusing. ‘Do I genuinely like this girl in an intimate, romantic way or do I feel comfortable around her?’ That’s the difference in there and you’ve got to be able to work out [when] someone [new] walks in.

Who would you say is the strongest — and weakest — couple in the villa? Your man Austin is now with Amaya.
Let’s see how Ace and Chelley grow. I want my man Austin to do well. I really couldn’t do a strongest to weakest ’cause I really just don’t know where all their heads are at.