Are 'Love Island USA' Season 8 Stars Aniya Harvey and Carl Schmidt Still Together?
The couple quickly became fan favorites after a fated twist following Casa Amor.
Spoilers ahead for Love Island USA season 8, which you can stream now on Peacock. The best seasons of Love Island USA have at least one buzzy second-chance romance; in season 8, that honor belongs to 23-year-old Aniya Harvey and 28-year-old Carl Schmidt. After original Islander Aniya's initial coupling with KC Chandler came to a dramatic end, Casa boy Carl swooped in as her prince charming and won the hearts of the audience. Though Trinity Tatum and Bryce Detloff walked away the winners of season 8, Aniya and Carl were the season's undisputed fairytale.
Now that the couple's back home from Fiji and preparing for the season 8 reunion, we're breaking down Aniya and Carl's relationship so far and their plans outside the villa.
Aniya Harvey and Carl Schmidt (right) came in 2nd place behind Trinity Tatum and Bryce Dettloff (left).
What happened between Aniya Harvey and Carl Schmidt on 'Love Island USA' season 8?
Carl and Aniya's love story began when Carl entered the villa as one of 12(!) men brought in for Casa Amor. Only six of the boys were chosen to stay, but Carl was chosen after he and Aniya bonded over their shared love of volleyball. The pair spent all of Casa getting to know each other, but even though they had some steamy kisses and Aniya gushed over how great he was, she still had feelings for KC. She even cried when she saw a picture of KC kissing newcomer Titi Davis.
When Casa came to an end, Aniya remained loyal to KC, and she was humiliated when KC came back with Titi and seemed unrepentant. Since he wasn't chosen, a single Carl was dumped from the villa, and Aniya quickly regretted her decision. Luckily, Episode 21 ended with a brilliant twist where America voted to bring back one girl and one boy from Casa. Carl made his triumphant return in the next episode's cake-themed challenge, instantly cheering up Aniya.
Though Carl had said during Aftersun that he had some walls up after Aniya's choice, those walls were clearly made of air. They quickly picked up where they left off, with Carl making cute breakfasts for Aniya and the pair sharing more makeout sessions in Say Less. When the male Islanders got the chance to recouple after Movie Night, Carl shared his intentions with the iconic line, "Revenge is sweet, but this girl is a little sweeter."
Carl and Aniya perform "Señorita" by Camilla Cabello and Shawn Mendes during karaoke night.
From there, Carl and Aniya were one of the couples that floated through the final week of season 8. Their karaoke challenge was adorable, they got flirty in bed, and their respective families were (and remain) big fans of their relationship. The volleyball lovers even got one of the most romantic finale dates in the show's history, a Princess and the Frog moment with a custom storybook that made Aniya's princess fantasies come true.
In the finale, Aniya and Carl were revealed to be the runners-up for Love Island USA season 8.
Carl and Aniya take a group photo with their families.
Are Aniya Harvey and Carl Schmidt from 'Love Island USA' season 8 still together?
A little over two weeks after the Love Island USA finale, Carl and Aniya have confirmed that they are taking things slow. The pair appeared as guests on Andy Cohen's Watch What Happens Live on July 29, alongside season 8 winners Trinity and Bryce. Of course, Cohen made sure to ask the runners-up whether they've made things official.
"No, so we are not officially boyfriend-girlfriend yet," Carl told Cohen. "I came in late; I came during Casa Amor, so [we] had a couple weeks to get to know each other. I honestly feel after two weeks, the connection had just been really strong, and we just feel really really happy. We just kinda want to keep rolling that as long as we can."
Carl also shared new details about his time on the show, revealing that Aniya was his "number one" even before he went into the villa. He explained that producers let the Casa crew watch early episodes, adding, "They would ask us like who our top picks were, you know, and Aniya was always always number one."
He also admitted that his and Aniya's second Say Less kiss knocked down his cotton-candy-thin walls. "She just gave me so much reassurance and was like, 'We can take this at the pace you want.' She felt apologetic, but was also just like very open to keep exploring our relationship," he said. "People joke that the walls that I put up were made out of wet cotton candy. She brought those walls down and really gave me the comfort to feel how I do."
Aniya and Carl appear on Watch What Happens Live.
Immediately after Love Island USA season 8 ended, Aniya and Carl also took their romance to social media. On July 15, Aniya went Instagram official with Carl as part of a heartfelt tribute commemorating the season. "I truly cherish the connection I have with Carl and I’m so happy that he made my fairytale dream a reality. I cannot wait to see how our story continues," she wrote.
Carl posted his own tribute the same day, which was a bit more succinct. He captioned a picture from the couple's storybook date with the statement, "Walls were never really up let’s be honest." (The couple also commented "princess" and "prince" on each other's posts, of course.)
Since returning to the States, the couple has been very active on TikTok, where they've been commenting on each other's old posts and sweet fan edits.
