Nic Addressed The Rumor That He’s Faking His Romance With Olandria

Nic Vansteenberghe is (understandably) not happy about people questioning his relationship with Olandria Carthen. On May 4, Vulture published a piece, highlighting 2026’s biggest reality TV stars — including Love Island USA’s Vansteenberghe. For the feature, he flew to New York and posed alongside the other honorees. But when the story came out, he was not happy about the outlet’s portrayal of him and his romantic life.

The Vulture piece explained how Vansteenberghe evolved from being the Season 7’s meme-maker to one half of its favorite couples. “The real key to Vansteenberghe’s success was his ability to pivot,” the piece read. “He could tell which way the island wind was blowing and consequently adapt from ladies’ man to yearning, twerking boy next door as early couple turnover called for it.”

“By the middle of the season, the fandom had coalesced around pairing him with co-star Olandria Carthen. Never mind that they didn’t seem to be more than friendly colleagues at first; Vansteenberghe leaned into the role of ‘person in love with Olandria’ with comfort and poise,’” the story continued. “Though they were not technically the season’s winners, Nicolandria, who are still together, were the runaway victors in all the ways that actually count: fan fondness and sponsorship deals. Vansteenberghe is now pursuing that most tried-and-true reality side hustle, DJ for hire.”

Vansteenberge did not appreciate the insinuation that he was playing a “role” by pursuing a romance with Carthen. “Dear Vulture magazine I fly all the way to New York where you ask me to be photographed half naked and you smile and shake my hand and then write some 💩 like that???” he posted on Threads. “I’m sure I’ll be told to not speak up about this.”

Since leaving the villa in July 2025, the couple has faced plenty of questions about their relationship. During an exclusive with Elite Daily, Carthen and Vansteenberghe addressed speculation that their relationship was manufactured.

“But to the people who are saying it's fake, at this point...” Vansteenberghe said before Carthen took over. “I don't know why you would think we would purposely get our families involved. We would not take it this far if it was fake. My mom really does like Nic, and Nic's mom really does like me,” she said. “Why would we get their hopes up for something that we know is not real? That's weird. It is real. You can't fake that.”

Vansteenberghe added, “At this point, I don't really give a sh*t anymore. I'm just focused on her and I. That's that.”