The end of Season 7, Episode 32 of Love Island USA marked the departure of a longtime Islander. With America voting, Taylor Williams and Clarke Carraway were sent packing from the villa. However, they made their relationship official before stepping out.

Throughout the first segment of Season 7, Williams was paired with the popular Olandria Carthen. On her trip to Casa Amor, the guys had to partner with a new batch of women, leading Williams to discover Carraway, with whom he quickly formed a deep connection. Despite Carthen’s significant fan base, Williams and Carraway consistently landed at the bottom of fan polls. Yet, this never deterred them from deepening their bond and it won’t hinder them from carrying on their romance beyond the show.

“Knowing I was leaving with her made it easy,” the Oklahoma rancher shared with Decider. “There’s no need to wait for each other to continue speaking once one’s out. We can start right away. She’ll be out there on the ranch with me, shoveling horse manure just like a cowgirl.”

Unfortunately, Williams and Carraway were not the only Islanders with a genuine connection to get sent home this season. Charlie Georgiou was first to go, shortly after he and Hannah Fields all but closed things off, and Fields was later voted out by her fellow Islanders just as she and Pepe Garcia were becoming serious. The fact that strong connections kept getting dumped from the villa was something neither Williams or Carraway could understand.

“I was confused when I was living in it,” Williams said. “I was like, ‘What the hell is happening? Why the hell is Charlie going home?’ We had no answer.”

When Decider caught up with the lovebirds over Zoom, they also talked about Williams twerking in front of Megan Thee Stallion, who the real “minion” in the villa was, and what they think of Carthen coupling up with Nic Vansteenberghe. Check out the full interview below.

DECIDER: I’m so excited to talk to you about all things Love Island USA. What were your reactions when you each found out you’d each be going to Fiji?

TAYLOR WILLIAMS: I was happy as hell. I never thought I’d be going to Fiji in the summer. I always wanted to go, but I was like, “Ah, I’ll get there one day in my life.” When I figured out I was coming, I was like, “Hell yeah. Let’s do it.”

CLARKE CARRAWAY: I was excited but nervous. I haven’t been away from my family and not talked to them for longer than a couple of hours. So it was exciting to know that I was coming here, but it was bittersweet. 

Taylor, you, Nic, and Ace quickly became known as the three musketeers – but there’s been some chatter over Ace’s role in that trio. Did you feel like you and Nic were his minions, so to speak? Was he ruling the roost?

TAYLOR: Hell, no. He was not the leader. I’m telling you, Ace is a minion, if anybody is. They’re damn near the same height, OK? So, they’re pretty much on the same level. But we all took input from each other. We all gave our input. Nobody was higher than the other one in the group. We all did stupid shit together. If one of us is a minion, we all are minions.

Clarke, I imagine it can feel intimidating to come in as a Casa girl. What were the vibes with the OG girls when the two villas merged? 

CLARKE: It was a little awkward because we merged for a recoupling. I could barely even see the [girls] on my left. But Iris was nice and very welcoming. Amaya was very welcoming, even though it was an awkward situation. 

Taylor, you were coupled up with Olandria for a while, and Clarke, you were coupled up with Nic at one point. The two of them are now a couple. What do you both think of Nicolandria? Do you feel like it’s a genuine connection?

TAYLOR: I’m all for it. It’s the second or third time they’ve been coupled up together, so shit, it might be for a reason. I’m happy for Nic. I’m happy for Olandria. If that’s what it’s meant to be, then it will be. I am all for it.

I felt like Olandria was pretty reserved about her feelings until the “Stand on Business” challenge. Clarke, what was going through your mind as she went off on Taylor?

CLARKE: I was just like, “Lord, I hope he’s OK. She is not playing with him.” Oh, Lord. I was like, “Let me stay out of this and let y’all handle it.” I shared my little two cents a little bit.

What about you, Taylor? What was going through your mind?

TAYLOR: She was mad about conversations that she was cool with when we had them one on one. But now that we were in front of everybody, it was a big problem, so I was really thrown off about that. We had just spoken about this the day before and she was cool with everything. Now that it was getting brought up in front of everybody, she wanted to act like she had a problem when she could have said it when it was just me and her one on one. I was already thrown off of that because it was like, “What the hell happened over a day?” We talked about everything that was already brought up, so her having a problem with it and reacting the way she did, really did throw me off. 

One last question on this topic. Taylor, some fans felt like you were stringing Olandria along until you found a genuine connection. What’s your response to that?

TAYLOR: That wasn’t true because I really did like Olandria. If that was the case, if I was to string her along, then I wouldn’t have been exploring Clarke and Olandria at the same time. I would have just been like, “You know what? I choose Clarke,” at the recoupling, and then, “Bye, Olandria.” I did not do that, so that definitely wasn’t true.

A lot of Islanders with genuine connections were sent home this season – Charlie, Hannah, TJ and the two of you, included. Why do you think this became such a common trend?

TAYLOR: I really don’t know. 

CLARKE: That’s a great question. 

TAYLOR: Shit, I was confused when I was living in it. I was like, “What the hell is happening? Why the hell is Charlie going home?” We had no answer. That’s the thing. When the boys made our decision on who to send home and the girls made their decision, we did not agree with the girls’ decisions because we were like, “Why the hell are y’all making these decisions? Where’s your answer coming from?” When they chose to send Hannah home when she was with Pepe, that’s a decision that the boys still don’t understand. We asked about it, they gave the reason, but we still don’t understand it. You sent home a strong connection, so I don’t know. 

You guys really did have a strong connection and I’ve talked to a couple of the other Islanders and they’ve all been shocked that you guys left. They’ve all said you had the most genuine and the strongest connection, so even they couldn’t believe it.

TAYLOR: That part. Shit, everybody was shocked. 

At least you were able to close things off before you left the villa. Was it easier to leave the villa knowing you would be leaving together? And do you have any plans to continue your relationship in the outside world?

TAYLOR: Definitely. It was easy knowing that if I’m leaving, I’m leaving with her. It’s not like I have to wait for her to get out or she has to wait for me to get out to continue talking. I know we’ll be together. We can continue talking together as soon as we leave here. She’s going to be a cowgirl out there shoveling horse shit. 

How do you feel about that, Clarke?

CLARKE: I’m not a shoveling horse shit, but I’ll do all the other things.

Maybe a rodeo?

CLARKE: Definitely.

I can’t let you go without bringing up the fact that Taylor got to twerk for Megan Thee Stallion. Taylor, what was that like for you? 

CLARKE: I’m sorry, that’s so funny to me. 

TAYLOR: I don’t know why I got chosen for the twerking part of it. I should have done the limbo shit, because Pepe is stiff as hell. He got bad knees, a bad back. It was tough seeing him limbo. But they chose me. I didn’t want to get chosen, and I was like, “Ah, shit, what the hell?” Nic and I were back there discussing, like, “Yo, Nic. You’re going second, I’m not going second.” We were so nervous to get up there. I ain’t ever twerked in a day in my life. I’m, like, “Alright, y’all. I’m finna twerk for Megan Thee Stallion.” When I got up there, I looked back at the gang and I was like, “I’m not twerking.” Ace was like,” Do what you gotta do to get the win.” So I was like, “Ah, shit. Now he’s bringing the competitive side out in me.” So, I went up there and shook ass for Megan Thee Stallion. Look, that’s the only person you’re gonna get me to shake ass for. I ain’t shaking ass for nobody else.

Clarke, what did you think of his moves?

CLARKE: I’m not gonna lie, I barely remember it. 

TAYLOR: Good.

CLARKE: But I do remember a little bit. 

The good thing is that it lives on Peacock forever, so you can go back and watch it whenever you want.

TAYLOR: I don’t want to see that. I’m skipping the episode. I ain’t watching that episode.

At this point, who are you each rooting for to win the show?

CLARKE:  I can’t say because I really do love everybody in there. So I cannot pick. I literally cannot pick. 

TAYLOR: Yeah, I want everybody to win. I’m cool with everybody. I’m damn near best friends with everybody in the villa. If I had to choose, it’d be one of my two minions, Ace or Nic.

If there’s a reunion again this season, what’s one thing each of you want to address? 

CLARKE: I don’t know. I feel like living it and watching it are so different. So I think we’ll be able to answer that when we get our phones back, because we don’t know how we’re being perceived. I don’t think there’s anything we need to address with the people that we’ve been living with, if that makes sense.

TAYLOR: Or there are conversations they had that we didn’t know about. They could have said something but I didn’t know because at the time I was on [one] side of the villa and they had a conversation on the other side of the villa. I have to watch the show so I can see everything that was said.

CLARKE: Confessionals.

TAYLOR: Yeah. I know me and Ace are gonna be going at it because I know he was talking shit in his confessionals.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

New episodes of Love Island USA air every night (except Wednesday) at 9/8c on Peacock.