I think a lot of fans were really touched that you chose to leave before the finale. You knew your connection was coming to a close. How do you feel about that call, now that you've had a little bit of time outside the villa for the dust to settle?
I don't regret my decision at all. I was never there for the money or for the clout. I don't care about that. I don't even like Instagram. Before coming into the show, I wasn't some micro-influencer at all. I had no following. That wasn't what I was there for. I was there for the experience, possibly finding love, and I thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I probably wasn't going to get again. That's why I went and I made a connection, and realistically, there were a lot of ups and downs and a lot of things that I didn't agree with. I made my decision to leave because I thought that's what I needed to do for myself.
I'm glad I did, and I'm glad everything was shown the way it was at the end, even if it might have not been earlier, because I felt so empowered. I feel as though it left such a good message to everyone watching, to any girl that's ever been in a situation such as that. It felt awesome, if I'm being honest. I don't regret it. Of course, I hate how everything went down because we did have something so special and I care about him so much. I don't regret anything. I'm glad I made the decision I made.
Would you ever consider reconciling with Jeff in the future, or are you happy to put that connection to rest?
I actually don't know. It's actually not like I'm going to be like, "No, I'll never speak to him again," because we did speak. We spoke as soon as we got our phones back, and we have been in slight contact — not anything crazy, but he apologized. I also apologized for how it ended, because it did suck. He told me how much he cared about me. We discussed the fact that everything that went on in there was so real. There are so many real feelings and emotions. It's not as easy as saying, "You disrespected me and this is done and over with." There's a lot of conversations that need to be had. I think he needs to work on himself and I need to work on myself, and maybe one day after that, we can come together. But at this very moment, I want him to do some self-reflecting, and I want to do some self-reflecting and focus on ourselves and see what could be in store for the future.
I've spoken to every Islander as they've left the villa, and the overwhelming sentiment is that it's such a unique environment. You don't have your phones. You don't have access to the world around you. That must be such a crash [course] in seeing how you react and guide yourself through a romantic relationship. I'm sure it's not easy.
No, it is not easy. It's so weird and so unique. It's nothing like you'll ever experience out in the real world. You're put in situations that you're never going to be put in. It's very unique and it's hard. It's not easy. It is not for the weak-minded. I could tell you that because my first few days I was struggling in there.
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