Exclusive Interview
‘Love Island Games’: Andreina Reveals Surprising Details About Her History With Johnny Outside the Villa
When Johnny Middlebrooks entered the villa as a Love Island Games Season 2 bombshell, fellow contestant Andreina Santos felt like it was fate. They already knew each other from the outside world. They discovered then that they had chemistry, so coupling up during the show made sense.
“I was like, OK, now we’re here together, maybe this is meant to be. Maybe the universe is talking to us and being like, ‘This is the right time for you guys to get to know each other,” the Love Island USA Season 7 alum told Swooon. She sat down with us fresh off her September 28 elimination to break down her dumping, history with Johnny, and more.
Technically, the public vote put Andreina in Episode 11’s duel against Garbi Denteh, but Johnny also had a hand in it. After performing well in the Baby Birding challenge, both halves of the couple were safe. It all changed when a bombshell entered the villa in a literal gift box, and Johnny put himself forward to couple up with the then-unidentified girl. Suddenly single, Andreina became vulnerable.
During the show, Andreina immediately confronted Johnny about his switch-up on Day 10 and didn’t let him off the hook all the way until the end. (She still hasn’t.) They’d only officially coupled up on Day 4, but their connection began outside of the villa. Since they didn’t discuss it much during filming, Andreina said some viewers might not realize the extent of their relationship history.
“That’s why I liked him so much, so fast, because we already talked before Love Island Games,” Andriena explained. After her stint on Love Island USA Season 7 this summer, Johnny followed her on Instagram before they interacted in person. “Then I met him at a party, and he was obsessed with me,” she said. “And, I mean, I liked him, too, and we just had chemistry right away.”
From then on, the two started talking. “We used to talk pretty much every day for a little while, and we never got too deep,” Andreina said. “Like, we never got intimate, but we did kiss before Love Island Games. And we used to spend time together just as friends, so that’s why I was so shocked when he betrayed me.”
Their pre-villa time together was cut short when Johnny informed her that he was planning on filming a show, which she didn’t know yet was Love Island Games. At the time, Andreina also didn’t know she was going to be involved in Love Island Games. She told Johnny that she didn’t want to get to know him yet. They stopped talking about two months before Love Island Games began.
Ben Symons / Peacock
“I don’t want to start off on the wrong foot, so I don’t want to get intimate,” she explained. “Like, I want to do things the right way.”
In the aftermath of Johnny’s recoupling, Adreina said that she knew he’d done something similar before. How familiar was the former Islander with Johnny’s history in the franchise, which extends to Love Island USA Season 2 and Love Island Games Season 1? It turns out it was first brought up to her by her friend and Love Island USA Season 6 contestant Daniela Ortiz-Rivera.
After Andreina noticed that Johnny had followed her on social media, she mentioned her interest in him to Daniela. “She was like, ‘Oh, girl, no, he’s a player,” Andreina said. “If you watch his past shows, he’s changed girls like it was underwear. Don’t go there.'”
Andreina claimed she discussed Johnny’s Love Island history with him before and during filming, but he got offended when she did. “‘It was out of my control, but I treat you so well,'” she recalled him saying. “‘So I don’t know why you would think that I will do that to you.”
Since her elimination, Andreina’s been getting social media comments and DMs from viewers telling her she should have known better. “But I thought I was going to be different because, one, we had history before, and two, because I brought it up to him so many times, and I was completely blindsided. Like, every time he would say, ‘No, I wouldn’t do that to you.'”
She also felt like everything was fine after Johnny brought up his concern that they weren’t having deep enough conversations. She assured him that she has trouble opening up to people, out of fear that they might hurt her. Another issue he brought up was Andreina not asking questions about him, which she claims she did.
“So, to me, it was kind of a surprise when I watched back, seeing him talking that way about me with the guys, when I know that we did have a connection because before Love Island Games,” she added. “We used to talk all the time, and all we had were conversations because I didn’t want to get intimate with him, so we used to literally hang out and just talk.”
Now, Andreina feels like she doesn’t know who Johnny is, and she isn’t interested in reconnecting with him outside of the villa. “I told him this, I was like, ‘I’m ready to literally forget that you are a person,'” she recalled. “And the first thing I did when I got my phone back was delete his number, delete him from my social media. I don’t want to see him, and I don’t want anything to do with Johnny.”
She did, however, connect with Johnny’s Season 2 ex, Cely Vazquez, who’s become a social media correspondent for the franchise. Andreina met Cely after her elimination to film a video. “When we saw each other, we just laughed. I was like, ‘I’m literally victim number five or six, so at this point we can make a group chat and the name can be Johnny’s victims,” Andreina joked.
Even though she didn’t walk away with a relationship or the prize money, Andreina said that she accomplished her main goal: showing the world her personality, since she wasn’t able to be “100% herself” during Love Island USA Season 7. In that way, she feels like she won.
“It’s great now that I have my phone back and I’m back to the world because everyone has super nice comments and everybody’s like, ‘Oh, my God, I knew you were this sweet girl,'” she explained. “This time, I think that people got a better idea and it seems to be positive. I’m so grateful because all I’m getting now is love.”
That being said, is she open to looking for love on the show again? First and foremost, since nearly her entire summer consisted of Love Island, Andreina plans on taking a break. “I would definitely be open to coming back if it’s the right time and it’s just like it’s the right thing to do if the opportunity comes, but who knows?” she said.
Love Island Games, Season 2, Every Night Except Wednesdays, 9/8c, Peacock
