Are 'Love Island USA' Stars JaNa Craig and Kenny Rodriguez Still Dating?
The prince and princess of season 6 have remained the cutest couple since filming wrapped.
Spoilers for all episodes of Love Island USA season 6 ahead. Despite a rocky start, season 6 of Love Island USA had viewers rooting for a fairytale relationship. It took a while for fan-favorite couple JaNa Craig and Kenneth "Kenny" Rodriguez to find each other; Kenny didn't enter the villa until the end of week two, and JaNa was almost eliminated a few days before he arrived. However, once the pair met on the reality TV show, they quickly clicked, and their relationship survived the test of Casa Amor to become one of the season's most adorable pairings. The finalist couple has even been compared to like one out of a Disney romance (specifically Princess Tiana and Prince Hakeem from The Princess and the Frog), so fans are clamoring for any news now that season 6 is over. Read on for everything we know about JaNa and Kenny's relationship, and what they're up to following August's Love Island USA season 6 reunion.
What happened between JaNa and Kenny on 'Love Island USA' season 6?
JaNa Craig, a 27-year-old day trader from Hawaii, was one of the day one Islanders in the season 6 cast. She had an eventful dating life in the villa, briefly coupling up with Coye Simmons, Connor Newsum, and Hakeem White. On the first public vote on day 11, JaNa and Hakeem were among the least-voted couples, and faced elimination from the villa. Hakeem was dumped while JaNa was saved by the other women, meaning that she remained in the villa as a single Islander.
Bronx-born 24-year-old Kenny Rodriguez entered the villa as a day 13 bombshell, and he and JaNa quickly hit it off. They recoupled together on day 15, and the next day they received enough public votes to remain in the villa. Their initial time together was cut short when the men chose to go to Casa Amor. After spending some days apart, JaNa chose to stay faithful and recouple with Kenny, but Kenny had hit things off with Casa girl Catherine Marshall. JaNa remained in the villa as a single Islander, but she and Kenny were able to work things out, and they recoupled up on day 24. They also soon became the second couple of the season to spend a night in the hideaway, where they made their relationship exclusive.
The now fan-favorite couple sailed through the final several days into the finale, where they joined Nicole Jacky and Kendall Washington, Leah Kateb and Miguel Harichi, and Serena Page and Kordell Beckham as the final couples. Though they did not become season 6's winners (as the prize went to Page and Beckham), JaNa and Kenny showed their strong bond during the finale, including a sweet moment where JaNa gave a speech in Spanish for Kenny. The duo ended the season as Love Island USA's third-place couple.
Are JaNa and Kenny still together after 'Love Island USA' season 6?
Though they may not have won the $100,000 prize, JaNa and Kenny are definitely in the running for the cutest post-season 6 couple. The pair have been attached at the hip since they returned to the U.S. from Fiji, and they've just become the latest couple to make things official! On August 10, JaNa shared an Instagram post where she's grinning ear to ear while holding a huge bouquet of red roses, tied with a sash that reads, "Quieres ser mi novia?" or, "Will you be my girlfriend?" in English.
"About last night," she captioned the post, adding "dije que si," or, "I said yes."
JaNa and Kenny arrived at the Love Island USA season 6 reunion in fine form, all dressed up and ready to share their relationship status with the world. JaNa even started their update with a bang; when host Ariana Madix asked if they had some news to report, JaNa joked, "We're pregnant!" (Watch Kenny's eyes nearly jump out of his head in response.) As for their real updates, JaNa met Kenny's mom while they were in Dallas, and they accepted Madix's congratulations for their six-day anniversary.
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In a post-reunion interview with E! News, Kenny shared how they've been fairing as a long-distance couple. He said that the two weeks they spent apart following the show was "hard," and that keeping their connection strong involves a lot of face time.
“We were FaceTiming in the morning and the night,” Kenny said of the month before the reunion. “She came to Dallas, and so we got to Texas BBQ. We went around, gave her a tour of a quick tour of Dallas."
“I literally think about her all the time when we’re not together,” he said while gushing about JaNa. “She’s been my peace through all this.”
Over the past month, JaNa and Kenny have also done several joint interviews to discuss their plans for the future. In a late July interview with Collider, Kenny dismissed any doubts that he and JaNa wouldn't be exclusive in the real world. "There is no way that I'm playing around with anyone," he told the outlet.
"For me, I'm the type of guy [where] once I establish an emotional relationship with a girl, it's more than just sex," Kenny revealed. "It's hard for me to be everywhere. I like to focus on one woman at a time."
Since Love Island USA season 6 went off the air, the happy couple has also posted a handful of heartwarming photos together. Shortly after the show wrapped, JaNa posted several Instagram Stories from a trip to L.A.'s Universal Studios with Kenny, Serena, Kordell, Leah, and Kendall. (PPG reunited!), and she's since shared adorable photos of her smiling with her beau. Kenny has done the same.
Quinci is a Culture Writer who covers all aspects of pop culture, including TV, movies, music, books, and theater. She contributes interviews with talent, as well as SEO content, features, and trend stories. She fell in love with storytelling at a young age, and eventually discovered her love for cultural criticism and amplifying awareness for underrepresented storytellers across the arts. She previously served as a weekend editor for Harper’s Bazaar, where she covered breaking news and live events for the brand’s website, and helped run the brand’s social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Her freelance writing has also appeared in outlets including HuffPost, The A.V. Club, Elle, Vulture, Salon, Teen Vogue, and others. Quinci earned her degree in English and Psychology from The University of New Mexico. She was a 2021 Eugene O’Neill Critics Institute fellow, and she is a member of the Television Critics Association. She is currently based in her hometown of Los Angeles. When she isn't writing or checking Twitter way too often, you can find her studying Korean while watching the latest K-drama, recommending her favorite shows and films to family and friends, or giving a concert performance while sitting in L.A. traffic.
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