Love Island Games gave Kendall Washington the chance to find love and compete for money - but what are his plans after a dramatic elimination separated him from Garbi Denteh? Us Weekly caught up with Kendall on Thursday, October 2, shortly after a joint duel kept Garbi in Fiji due to an accidental injury in the ring that cost Nicola Gauci Borda-Warr her place on the show. Kendall, meanwhile, faced off against Josh Goldstein and lost, which left Garbi without her partner. It feels like Love Island Games is a chance to do things differently. How did your approach here compare to season 6 of Love Island USA? 'Love Island Games' Couples Status Check: Who Is Still Together? Who Split? I wanted to approach it with care where I get to potentially find a connection and we do some games on the side. So I wanted to focus on the connection side and I'm glad that I started off great with Garbi too. But then as the days went by, we realized the intensity of this process. You can't just lay back and focus on your connection and then just do these challenges. Every single day someone is vulnerable and someone is talking about how to get someone out of the villa. People are crashing out and it is a high, tense environment. I tell everyone that this felt like Survivor because every single day you have to just fight for your life in there. But I think it helped me on the connection side because it didn't put pressure on me. This was a great and healthy mix where I still got to have some of those conversations but without the pressure. Then we could talk about the game and the strategy. Was there any hesitation in joining Love Island Games or did you want to show a different side to yourself? Ben Symons/PEACOCK 100 percent. That's the reason why I said yes to Love Island Games because I thought the environment was going to show more of a laid back side to me. I feel like that really showed and I've gotten so much positive feedback. At the same time, it's another way to just have fun. I thought it was gonna be like us playing games and I find someone. It's all fun and games. But no, it was not fun and games. There were levels to it. Is this the beginning of gamer Kendall? I think it made me not want to do [serious competition] shows. The fact that there's other shows that are strictly about that and no love involved ... I'm not gonna cancel anything out but I feel like I'm more on the love side than the game side. The environment is just so high, tense and stressful. I feel like [if I am] going on a show like Survivor, I cannot be on edge the whole time. Love island Games loves to trip people up by bringing in exes, so were you worried they would bring [your ex] Nicole Jacky in? Would you have been nervous to be in the villa at the same time? I won't lie and say that I didn't think that she was going to come on [the show]. I thought there was a possibility but, if she came in, it wouldn't throw me off my game. I know she is very competitive. She would have probably done extremely well, but I know it's not like me and her were going to couple up. She would have been an ally to me, but obviously it never happened. She never joined the show, but that thought did cross [my mind]. You were eliminated over a one-second difference. How did it feel in the moment? I was honestly overwhelmed with emotions. I was just rambling about why I went on Games and what has been motivating me because that was all the emotion. At the same time I knew I had unfinished business in there with Garbi. It was sad. I was sad, but at the same time I was proud of, like, how far I came. I mean, I'm head to head with, I will say, the toughest competitor in there, Josh. And, like, he wanted it more - hands down. He wanted it more, like, he's doing it for his sister. So, like, there's levels to this when it comes to the game, and that's what going into this season. I didn't think it was going to be that deep, but it is. It is that deep in here. When you go into that arena, I can't explain to you, like, the pressure and your heart's racing, you feel the Islanders look watching you on. I felt that with my dude, with Marvin, and it just sucks that it had to be true. Are you still frustrated with anyone or the situation? At the end of the day, we put ourselves in a vulnerable position where the power squad got to choose between me, Josh and Casey [O'Gorman]. I knew they were going to choose Josh and I. They weren't going to choose Casey. They saw an opportunity and they jumped on it. It's part of the game. Can I be salty about it? Yes, I can be salty about it. But at the end of the day, they drew the better hand and they got to make that option. As the hours and the days go by, I'm accepting it and I am just grateful for the experience I had because I was fighting tooth and nail - two duels in three days. Garbi is currently avenging your exit in the villa. You two ended on a hopeful note, but tell me where your head is at. Are you aiming to get in touch once she's o
Us Weekly
Love Island Games' Kendall Teases Plans for Garbi Reunion After Dramatic Exit
October 3, 2025
2 months ago
2 celebrities mentioned