Connor Says Talking To JaNa Was His "Reason For" Doing Beyond The Villa

For the most part, Love Island: Beyond the Villa is a happy reunion for the tight-knit cast of the dating show’s sixth U.S. season. Except, as the series premiere reveals, there are two cast members who refuse to speak. JaNa Craig makes it very clear in the first episode that she wants nothing to do with Connor Newsum after he had negative things to say about her following Love Island USA. So, is she still icing him out, or did doing this show together resolve anything? The two stars, who were briefly an item back in their villa days, tell Elite Daily about their dynamic.

On the show, Connor mentions he DMed an apology to JaNa for how he spoke about her after Love Island, but she didn’t see it. “I wasn't entirely surprised by that,” Connor says. “I know that she's someone who is very strong in her feelings, but I hoped that coming into the show we would have the opportunity to have a face-to-face conversation. That was my reason for wanting to come back.”

But Connor didn’t get any time with JaNa at all in the first episode, and only barely got to speak with her boyfriend, Kenny Rodriguez. As the couple was preparing to go to the big reunion party, JaNa asked Kenny to ignore Connor with her.

“She's entitled to her own decision, and I support that,” Kenny says. “But I also know that me as a person, I can't control if I want to confront them. So that's what I did. I really just wanted to hear his reasoning behind some of the things that he said.”

While the situation appears tense, JaNa says the icy relationship has melted a bit since filming.

“That was such a last year thing,” JaNa says. “I'm very mature, and it's civil. We've moved on. We have the same friend group, so we keep it cordial.”