‘Love Island: Beyond the Villa’s Iris Kendall Reacts to Pepe Garcia’s Cheating Denial
What To Know
- Iris Kendall addresses her breakup with Pepe Garcia on Love Island: Beyond the Villa.
- She cites his cheating rumors as the reason for their split.
- Pepe denies cheating on Iris in the Love Island spinoff.
Though Iris Kendall and TJ Palma are still going strong in Love Island: Beyond the Villa, they’re dealing with some drama in the form of Iris’ ex, Pepe Garcia. In the premiere episode of the spinoff, which aired on April 15, Iris addressed how her relationship with TJ began outside the villa — and how things ended with Pepe after they came in fourth place during Love Island USA Season 7.
“With Pepe, the reason why it didn’t work out is I was getting messages from girls telling me horrible things about him, and then after the reunion, Pepe’s cheating scandal happened, and I’m not OK with that,” Iris explained in the show. “I’m not OK with Pepe lying, and that was really just the end for me.”
Pepe denied cheating on Iris when TMZ first reported that they’d broken up in August 2025, weeks after the Season 7 reunion filmed. Pepe doubled down in Beyond the Villa Season 2. “I did not cheat on Iris,” he said in an Episode 1 confessional. “I did not speak to other women when I was talking to Iris, but I definitely think TJ was hung up on Iris. They were both hung up on each other ’cause now they’re together.”
Swooon asked Iris how she felt about Pepe dismissing the cheating claims just ahead of Beyond the Villa‘s April 15 premiere. “Well, I feel like as you keep watching, you’ll understand more of what my point of view and my side of things are,” she said. “But I do feel like it was definitely a lot of deflection from the actual situation at hand. And, of course, like anybody, why wouldn’t he defend himself? But, you know, the truth is the truth.”
Since Iris confirmed her breakup with Pepe in a statement to E! News, she’s largely remained silent on the reason for their split. “I had hoped to keep this private, but I’m so grateful for all of the love and support I’ve received since leaving the villa, and I wanted to share an update,” she told the outlet. “The connection that I formed has ended, and while it isn’t how I would have imagined, I will always value the unique experience that we shared.”
During a September 2025 episode of the Sorry We’re Cyrus podcast, Pepe brought up that Iris had met up with TJ shortly after Season 7 filming wrapped, when she and Pepe were still together. “To have it in a few weeks flip and have it happen to me and through everything not have the same support…” Pepe said. “I will just stay quiet because I know the truth. It is a weird situation because she is now back with the guy she had a cheating scandal with.”
In Beyond the Villa, Iris and TJ explained that their meetup was “platonic,” and they didn’t see each other again until after Iris had split from Pepe. They were first linked in early September, though they didn’t hard launch until a few weeks later at New York Fashion Week.
Episode 2 of Beyond the Villa, which started filming in late November, sees them make their relationship official. “I’m in such a good place,” Iris told Swooon. “Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Love Island: Beyond the Villa, Season 2, Wednesdays, 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET, Peacock
