The Big Picture

Daia learned perceptions of Kordell and Serena changed after Casa Amor.
Backlash over a bed video with Kordell left Daia feeling misunderstood.
Daia believes Serena and Kordell have a genuine connection on
Love Island.

It’s not easy being a Casa Amor girl. You come in later on Love Island USA and have the tough job of flirting with men who could be in strong couples already on the reality dating series. However, there is a slim chance one of the men could take you back to the villa and stay with you. Daia McGhee had her eyes on Kordell Beckham.

He was coupled up with Serena Page since the premiere. However, she told him she wanted to be friends at one point, then changed her mind. Daia and some viewers were shocked to see Serena miss Kordell while he was away. Collider talked to Daia about Serena’s feelings for Kordell, dealing with assumptions about her, and which couples she thinks are genuine.

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Daia Says Serena Was Worried ‘Love Island USA’ Fans Didn’t Like Her
Daia entered Casa Amor thinking like some Love Island USA viewers, that Serena was leading on Kordell. She told Collider her reaction to how much that perception of Serena has changed after Casa Amor. “I think like going in it myself, I feel like I was with the opinion of the viewers because I was watching it as you guys are watching it, and I feel like most people’s opinion was they kind of had a friendship couple,” she explained.

“And Serena wasn’t really sure if she liked him or not. And then, as soon as I went into Casa, I hadn’t seen the last episode before Casa,” she added. “So I guess they had like a really deep conversation. And, you know, there was a few things that had happened that had kind of, like, made their connection grow stronger. Didn’t see that going into the villa and obviously being in Casa we’re not watching the episodes as we’re going along. So we’re not seeing that Serena is like crying and upset and not really interacting with the boys.”

She revealed when her perspective on Serena and Kordell changed. “After movie night, I think I started to understand people really would like Serena and I told her this, this was actually a conversation that me and her had,” Daia later said. “Because she was really concerned if people didn’t like her and all these things.” Daia told her that the clip of Serena crying over Kordell is what people want to see to know if she liked Kordell.

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Daia said Kordell talked a little bit about his last night with Serena before Casa Amor. “He did say they had a pretty good conversation, a deep conversation, but he never told me in detail what it was, and I never really asked him,” she explained. Daia later said she understood why Serena is a slow burner, and they have “different love language styles.” She wasn’t surprised when Kordell said after four days her connection with him was “up there” in comparison to his connection with Serena because of that difference.

Daia Responds to the Backlash of Her Bed Video With Kordell
Image via Peacock

Kordell brought Daia back hoping to be able to explore his connection with her and Serena. Serena didn’t go along with his plan. She pushed a plate of breakfast he made for her onto him after seeing he had made a plate for Daia too. “There was no like being friends in that moment and so like I just didn’t want to pay attention,” she revealed. Daia said once Serena made a comment about Kordell “dry humping” in Casa she realized what happened with the plate. It was so awkward that the Casa girls left the makeup room. The original female islanders and the Casa girls who made it to the villa were keeping their distance from each other.

The clip of Daia on top of Kordell in bed made its rounds on social media before the episode. Fans jumped to the conclusion they were having sex. Serena watched the moment on a phone and called it “dry humping,” which Kordell later disagreed with her using that term. Daia and Kordell were clothed and she moved her hips for a few seconds on top of him. Daia explained how the reaction to the moment makes her feel.

“I think everyone that’s like really pissed off about this is very much Team Serena,” Daia said. “I love Serena.” She says she still sees comments from people accusing her of having sex with Kordell. “I don’t know if they showed this, but the girls were like, ‘Oh like he turned his head to the first girl that got his p— wet.’ And I’m like, girl, I didn’t even touch him,” she said. Daia said her comment about Kordell not being small didn’t help her case. “I only said that because we were cuddling in bed,” she explained. Kordell then moved away immediately. Daia said she wanted to kiss him in the morning and that’s it.

Daia revealed the other men found her cute, but wouldn’t approach her during Casa Amor because of her connection with Kordell. The Casa girls also stayed away from Kordell for the same reason. Daia said they would talk for hours, which wasn’t shown in the episodes. Their connection away from the villa wasn’t only physical. However, that connection didn’t last in the villa. Kordell worked hard to get back into Serena’s good graces and eventually asked Daia to chat to end things. However, Daia responded that she wanted to chat with him too. Fans thought she was trying to beat him to the punch so she wouldn’t be dumped.

“I understand how it looks,” she said after laughing.” It wasn’t that morning that I woke up, and I was like, I don’t want to deal with this anymore,” she later said. “It was actually like three days before when I was starting to feel like. ‘Hey, I’m really not feeling this situation.” Daia told the Casa girls instead of Kordell that he was disappointing her because he was busy dealing with Serena. She said because there were so many conversations in the villa over those two days, she wasn’t “allowed to have that conversation with him.” Daia claimed Kordell found out she planned to end it and felt like he was turning things on her.

“I do regret how I acted though,” she said about that breakup conversation. Daia said Serena was the strongest connection she had out of all the original islanders. She doesn’t regret anything from Casa Amor because she did things based on the information she had. The travel blogger said Kordell didn’t reveal he agreed to certain boundaries with Serena, which he crossed in Casa until it was too late. Daia is out of the villa and can vote on which couple should win season 6.

We asked her if Aaron Evans genuinely cares about Kaylor Martin after their multiple arguments. “I think he does,” she answered. The blogger doesn’t know everything about their relationship, but said it seems like he cares after being around them. However, who is the most genuine couple? “I genuinely think that Serena and Kordell genuinely like each other,” she answered. “I think it’s very clear to see and everyone loves them. And then if I had to pick a second one, I would say Kendall [Washington] on Nicole [Jacky]. I just really love them.” The season 6 finale of Love Island USA is on Sunday, July 21 on Peacock.

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