Love Island USA‘s Olandria Carthen and Nic Vansteenberghe found out about Santa in very blunt — albeit hilarious — fashions.
In a December 18 interview with Glamour, the Love Island USA Season 7 power couple shared their favorite Christmas traditions. While doing so, Nic couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share a story of how he learned the truth about jolly old Saint Nick.
(Warning: Biggest spoiler of all time incoming.)
The 24-year-old called that fateful day the “worst day of my life” — here’s why.
“I’ll never forget, my mom told me that Santa wasn’t real the day that Michael Jackson died,” he confessed. “I think she was telling me in the car and then on the radio, ‘Michael Jackson has passed away.’ Double whammy. Worst day of my life — Michael Jackson’s dead and Santa’s not real. Imagine that.”
The King of Pop passed away in 2009, so that means Nic was only 8 years old at the time. Olandria, ever the sleuth, attempted to get to the bottom of his story.
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“What made her say Santa’s not real?” she asked Nic. “Did you make her mad that day? Did you get in trouble?”
“No, no,” Nic responded. “I think it was pressing her about it. I was like, ‘How the heck is this possible?’ She was like, ‘You don’t want to know.’ And I was like, ‘I want to know, Mom.'”
Young Nic grew up a lot that day. And as it turns out, Olandria also learned the secret truth about Santa at a young age.
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“We knew from a very early age that Mom was Santa,” she explained. “She did not give us a chance to believe. I’m like, ‘That’s whack. Why didn’t you?’ She was like, ‘Girl, I’m a single mother of three. You know I bought this stuff.’ And you know what? That’s fair.”
There’s a lesson to be learned here: Kids, don’t ask mom any questions during the holidays.
Why do Nic and Olandria live in different states?
Despite their rock-solid relationship, Nic and Olandria don’t live together. Though Nic travels often, his home base is in Jacksonville, Florida, while Olandria lives in Houston, and the reason behind that is simple: They have real-life jobs and responsibilities that prevent them from moving closer to each other.
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“Being from the Deep South, it’s kind of hard to jump to the West Coast. It just doesn’t feel like home,” Olandria told Glamour. “Going there for work makes sense. But going there to live and for tax purposes, it doesn’t.”
Nic said, “I’m 24, looking to move out of my parents’ house. It’s just that traveling every other day is kind of hard. LA would be interesting for business, but the tax things… I’m so undecided. We’ll see. I’m thinking it would be me and my suitcase for a couple more months.”
When do new episodes of Love Island USA come out?
While Season 8 of Love Island USA won’t premiere until summer 2026, that doesn’t mean fans have to wait that long for all the relationship drama that has defined the show. The new season of Love Island: Beyond the Villa is currently filming in Los Angeles!
Season 2 of Beyond the Villa will follow Season 7 Islanders as they navigate the real world — and their relationships — with cameras following their every move. The cast list is jam-packed with fan favorites, but unfortunately, Nic and Olandria aren’t scheduled to be part of the festivities.
Of course, things can change, and that gives fans all the more reason to tune in when Love Island: Beyond the Villa Season 2 premieres in 2026 on Peacock.