Love Island USA‘s JaNa Craig felt “humiliated” by now-ex Kenny Rodriguez‘s “last minute” decision not to move in together before they started filming Beyond the Villa.
During the Thursday, July 31, episode of the Peacock series, JaNa, 28, told Leah Kateb and Serena Page about her then-boyfriend’s desire for space.
“At first, we were going to live together, and then [at the] last minute, he asked, ‘Is it OK if we live separate?’ I was like, ‘That is weird,’” she recalled. “I was crying in a grocery store, so I didn’t even get to hear his side.”
JaNa tried to understand where Kenny, 24, was coming from, adding, “It is my ego for sure. His reasoning was valid enough for me to humble myself.”
Leah, 25, and Serena, however, disagreed that JaNa needed to work around what Kenny wanted. In a confessional, JaNa said she was caught off guard by Kenny walking back their plans to live together after spending time in different states.
“I found out that Kenny would rather live separate than together for the summer when I was grocery shopping,” she detailed. “I was so confused and maybe humiliated and embarrassed. I had dreams of what the summer would be with us living together. Everything, but without the ring. Silly me.”
JaNa and Kenny started dating while filming season 6 of Love Island USA in June 2024. After leaving the villa in Fiji, JaNa moved back to Las Vegas while Kenny remained in Texas. They resided in the same building — but different apartments — earlier this year while filming Peacock’s Beyond the Villa spinoff.
“He has a one bedroom in Dallas and New York. He is going back and forth. His lease ends at our one-year mark,” JaNa continued in Thursday’s episode. “Makes it very interesting how our future will play out. I live in Las Vegas and long-distance relationships should be illegal. I don’t understand how people do it. Not for me.”
Elsewhere in the episode, Kenny expressed frustration over how his plans for the future differed from JaNa’s. The pair took a major step by fostering a dog together, but while JaNa was excited for them to bring more animals into their lives, Kenny wasn’t.
“JaNa jumped the gun when she said that,” he told the cameras. “I am pretty removed from adopting more animals. I am struggling with the one I have right now.”
Viewers are still watching JaNa and Kenny’s sometimes awkward dynamic play out on Beyond the Villa, but the duo have called it quits off screen.
“Hi my loves. Thank you for all your love & support. It means the world to me. As you know, Kenny and I no longer together,” JaNa wrote via Instagram on Tuesday, July 29. “Please know that I have seen all the breakup theories and none have matched up to how terrible, disgusting and disappointing it truly is. Discovering that someone you loved isn’t who you thought they were and that the relationship you thought you were building hasn’t been genuine since day one has been truly devastating. Thank you for respecting my privacy and please know as a child of God, I will always be OK.”
Kenny subsequently issued his own statement.
“The past few days have been incredibly difficult. I’ve been quietly sitting with a lot of emotions and doing my best to process everything privately,” he wrote via his Instagram Story at the time. “Breakups are never easy, especially in the public eye. Sometimes, despite how deeply you care for someone, you come to the hard truth that the relationship was not something that could last long-term.”
Shortly after Kenny broke his silence, JaNa publicly called him out again. “Stfu you manipulative liar,” JaNa wrote via her Instagram Story. “You not taking accountability and telling people the type of person you really are is insane to me!! My first statement was me being nice. Do not piss me off.”
