Kendall Is “Grateful” That Nicole Criticized His Casa Amor Behavior

Nicole Jacky and Kendall Washington are getting adjusted to being on a schedule again. After spending the summer filming Love Island USA Season 6, they’re “still on villa time,” Jacky, 26, tells Elite Daily. “One-hundred percent,” Washington says. “But it did feel good to wake up without the blinding lights every morning.”

That harsh daily wake-up call was one of many eccentricities about villa life, along with having no real sense of time. “The strangest thing is not having a clock,” Jacky says. “You get lost in the moment while you’re in there. It’s kind of nice.” With no responsibilities, they were free to get to know each other, building a relationship that became one of the strongest of the season.

Jacky and Washington, 28, met when she came in as an early days bombshell. They faced some initial drama when Jacky explored a connection with Miguel Harichi, but by the time Casa Amor rolled around, they had their sights set only on each other. They closed things off shortly afterward, and during the finale, the duo said “I love you.”

Below, the fourth-place islanders discuss their thoughts on the final rankings, the criticism Washington faced for his comments during Casa Amor, and what might have happened if things played out differently.

Elite Daily: Congrats on making it to the finale! What did you think of the final rankings? Who were you expecting to win?

Nicole Jacky: We all had our assumptions, and me and the girls were trying to predict. Anybody was deserving of winning. Every couple was special in their own way. I had a feeling that Serena [Page] and Kordell [Beckham] were going to win. They went through so much and overcame a lot and literally have a love story.

Kendall Washington: We didn’t even talk about about this until our last day — we forgot about winning and losing. Nicole and I were thinking it would be Serena and Kordell. They’ve been through so much, and they’ve coupled up since Day One. Kordell is my boy. But honestly, I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was any of us because we’re all in such a good place.

ED: How does it feel coming back to your phones and seeing how many fans have been engaging with the show?

NJ: It’s so wild because you’re in this bubble in the villa, and you obviously don’t have any contact with the real world. You don’t know what’s going on, what’s being said, or what’s being seen. It’s crazy. I’m not going to lie. I got my phone back last night. I feel like I can’t even wrap my head around how many people have been watching the show.

KW: It’s insane. We were already exhausted, so we were half eyes open in bed trying to see comments and posts and all our friends and family members reaching out to us. It was a lot to take in. It’s going to be a while until we get fully caught up.

ED: I want to touch on a few things that happened throughout the season. Nicole, the night Andrea Carmona went home, you said you thought you were getting eliminated instead. What do you think would have happened with Rob Rausch and Andrea if she had stayed?

NJ: That whole situation was really hard. I knew what Rob and Andrea had. It’s weird because I’m so grateful for the experience I got, but I think Andrea’s time got cut too short, and I really do think Andrea and Rob would’ve blossomed more if they had more time together. They had an instant connection.

I had barely even scratched the surface with Kendall, so it wasn’t like I was ready to leave, but it was just so early on.

ED: Kendall, what do you think would have happened to you if Nicole went home that night?

NJ: Oh, I want to hear this.

KW: I don’t even know what I would’ve done. I had gotten to a point of hope with Nicole, because she brought out this new side of me. I’d never met anyone like her.

If that had been cut short, damn… I don’t know what I would’ve done, looking at the new bombshells that came in after her. I don’t see myself connecting with anyone on that level, and I probably would’ve been sent home in the next week with no connection. Thank God that didn’t happen.

ED: Nicole, you were briefly in a love triangle situation with Kendall and Miguel. Were things ever weird with Miguel after you ended things?

NJ: No. That’s the cool thing about Miguel — he’s very smart and understanding. He was still new in the villa, and we were on the same page about exploring connections. He took it well. He wanted to get to know Leah at the time. Everything happens as it should, and I’m glad that we’re all able to stay friends. On the outside it would be kind of weird, I’m not going to lie.

ED: Kendall, you were super close with the whole cast this season, but you’ve gotten some criticism for “playing both sides” and egging on the boys in their Casa relationships. Looking back, what do you think about that situation?

KW: I for sure approached it the wrong way because I do have such a close relationship with the girls in the villa. I wanted everyone to be happy and find their person. The fact that I handled myself so poorly in Casa is my biggest regret because I should have gone in with more of a conscious mind about the girls back home, instead of getting entrenched into the Casa experience and forgetting about what happened. I was thinking about Nicole only, but I should have been encouraging the guys to have that same mentality.

It was gutting for Serena and Kaylor to hear that from me ... I’m still making it up to them to this day.

I got caught up in the moment, egging them on and saying, “Yo, if you’re happy, go for it.” It was gutting for Serena and Kaylor [Martin] to hear that from me because of how much I supported them throughout the whole process. I’m still making it up to them to this day.

NJ: I don’t think you were egging them on. You were happy to see your boys happy, and you got lost in the sauce, as I like to say, or caught up in the moment. I don’t think you had any bad intent.

KW: I just wanted them to be happy, but at the end of the day, they had stronger connections back home. We all saw that’s how it ended up.

ED: Nicole, did that situation change how you felt about Kendall at all?

NJ: It was hard for me to navigate because it didn’t really have anything to do with me, but because I’m coupled up with Kendall and I care about him, I feel like I had to speak my mind to him. Although he didn’t have bad intent, he was so close with the girls and always had their backs. I saw how destroyed and hurt they were over the video we got, so I had to let Kendall know.

I told him, “You need to do what you think is right. I’m not going to tell you to apologize to the girls. You got yourself in this mess. You need to get out of it however you think is best.” It all worked out, and I’m proud of him for how he handled it and swallowed his pride to make it right with the girls.

KW: I was grateful that Nicole could give me that constructive criticism. It meant a lot for her to tell me all those things because she didn’t have to do that, but she holds me to a higher standard. It may have seemed like she was reaming into me, but it was deserved.

ED: Last question — how much avocado toast did you actually eat?

KW: I didn’t eat too much avocado toast. Honestly, I wasn’t even really a breakfast guy. I would just make breakfast for Nicole every morning, and I’d have iced coffee and then work out.

NJ: I had a lot of avocado toast. When I came in as a bombshell, everybody was eating it. I was like, “All right, period. Here we go.” We would get pretty fancy with it. I would put crumbled bacon on mine.

KW: Oh, OK, chef.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.