Since making her reality TV debut on season 7 of Love Island USA, Olandria Carthen has made her presence in the public eye stick. For over a year, she has walked red carpets, fronted major beauty collaborations, spoken on college tours and attended high-profile fashion events. As she breaks into the modeling industry as an emerging “it girl,” many online users have been trying to taint her image by any means necessary.
Carthen has faced an immense amount of criticism since stepping out of the villa. From claims that her relationship with Nic Vansteenberghe was “fake” to accusations that she’s performative in representing Black women in the entertainment space, Carthen navigates a double standard: receiving massive praise while simultaneously being targeted by online hostility.
Love Island Era Criticism
During season 7, Carthen was an instant fan favorite, but she faced harsh commentary from the premiere episode. The first episode introduces the cast and tests their initial chemistry. Carthen coupled up with Taylor Williams because he showed qualities she was looking for in a partner. Soon after, bombshells Charlie Georgio and Cierra Ortega entered the villa to shake up the existing couples. When Williams and several of the other men stepped forward to show interest in Ortega, fellow contestant Huda Mustafa told the other women they needed “real men.”
Carthen calmly said, “Girl you don’t have to play that,” explaining that the rest of the women weren’t upset and didn’t need pity so early in the season. Mustafa was left in tears, and the moment went viral.
Since then, tension between the two fanbases has stayed high as critics painted Carthen as a mean girl and reduced her to the “angry Black woman” stereotype. Fans quickly came to Carthen’s defense, pointing to a long history of Black Women being cast as villains on reality TV. A similar dynamic played out in season 6 with fan favorites Serena Page and JaNa Craig.
During challenge-heavy episodes such as the “Heart Race” and “Stand on Business,” the fandom toxicity escalated. Opposing fanbases permanently labeled Carthen and fellow islander Chelley Bisainthe as mean girls and bullies. The online harassment eventually took an extreme, racist turn when a user photoshopped Carthen’s face onto an image of George Floyd alongside Mustafa’s onto Derek Chauvin. Carthen was still in the villa as the racist posts circulated and the harassment came up during the season 7 reunion.
Even post-show, the divide continued. In October 2025, Mustafa and her ex-boyfriend, Louis Russell, faced backlash after a clip of their livestream went viral where they appeared to be laughing after someone called Carthen a racial slur. When season 8 was announced, critics immediately fixated on contestant Trinity Tatum, calling her “Olandria’s ender” suggesting Carthen’s time in the spotlight was over. Critics also took Carthen’s public silence about season 8 as a sign that her post-show fame had gone to her head.
The Scrutiny of “Nicolandria”
Beyond her personal achievements, much of the online hate and skepticism Carthen has faced has been centered around her relationship with Nic Vansteenberghe. Fans dubbed the pair “Nicolandria,” and pointed to early moments, including their kiss in the premiere episode and Vansteenberghes’ secret kiss with Carthen during a blindfold challenge. Fans also noticed that the pair often picked each other in later challenges, even though they rarely pursued the connection outside those challenges. Those moments created an unshakeable ship, inspiring fan pages, edits and group forums devoted to their chemistry.
Although they both pursued other connections, a unique Casa Amor twist brought them together. To fans of the show, their chemistry was undeniable. After officially coupling up near the end of the season, they went on to place second in the finale though many viewers considered them the real winners. Other viewers questioned the timing of the relationship and criticized Carthen for pursuing Vansteenberghe after his connection with Ortega.
Post-show, “Nicolandria” became a cultural phenomenon, leading to major brand partnerships, including NYX cosmetics playing into their ship name and the internet’s obsession with Carthen’s lip combination. However, critics repeatedly accused the couple of faking their romance for publicity. Interracial couples on reality TV are rarely subjected to this level of parasocial interrogation. When they opted for more privacy post-villa and eventually breaking up after a year due to distance and demanding schedules, critics used that as proof of their inauthenticity rather than a normal relationship.
Post-Island Criticism & Media Manipulation
As Carthen’s profile grew, so did the blurring lines between petty fandom drama and real life defamation. Early last month, it was announced that Carthen would be collaborating with Pat McGrath and Pandora, but critics of Carthen had a different plan in mind. A viral post misleadingly to Carthen’s father, attempted to damage her family’s reputation on the exact day of her launch. Critics alleged that her father was a registered sex offender, but fans quickly debunked the post by showing it was another person’s case being used to diminish Carthen.
Critics have also attempted to drive a wedge between Carthen and her former villa best friend, Chelley Bissainthe. Carthen and Bissainthe were viewed as a strong and close duo during their time in the villa with viewers naming their friendship “Chellandria.” The duo were seen doing interviews and press runs together, celebrating Bissainthes’ birthday and Carthen referring to Bissainthe as her soul sister. Viewers were starting to see a shift in the beloved duo’s friendship after Bissainthe’s ex-boyfriend, Ace Greene, did an interview.
In August 2025, Greene did his first ever post-villa interview with content creator Speedy. However, one specific segment of the interview went viral, Speedy asked Greene if he believed Carthen and Vansteenberghe’s relationship was real. Greene sat there in silence with a smile on his face stating that he didn’t believe that the relationship was real.
Greene further explained that he has a deep respect for Carthern but the last conversation he had with Vansteenberghe, he claimed there wasn’t a romantic spark. Fans posted clips from the show where Vansteenberghe told Greene that he had romantic feelings for Carthen before Greene and Bissainthe’s dumping. The conversation revealed that Greene had personal issues with Vansteenberghe and not Carthern. Nevertheless, when you’re a couple the other partner is automatically grouped into the situation. With Greene speaking on Carthen and Vansteenberghe’s relationship many people were looking at how Bissainthe would potentially respond. When she stayed silent throughout the whole debate, fans of the duo believed that Bissainthe sided with Greene’s statement.
Users looked at the silence and lack of public acknowledgement on social media from Carthen and Bissainthe as a sign that the friendship was over. Many users took the situation to frame Carthen as selfish and claiming she separated herself to be the sole “breakout Black star” of the season. Their friendship was one aspect of the show that many gravitated towards during the season, two dark-skinned women being friends and confiding in each other. In contrast, what comes with that friendship is constant comparison to one another whether it’s about their relationships, appearances or careers.
So Why Does the Internet Want Olandria to Fail?
Unfortunately, there’s no one answer to why the internet turns on stars like Carthern. Some people don’t like how she portrays herself online, others resent that she doesn’t constantly center the reality show that gave her a platform. Many are driven by simple envy over life changing opportunities she secured compared to their favorite islanders. Yet at its core, much of this hate is rooted in misogynoir and colorism. A refusal to accept a dark-skinned Black woman achieving high-level, sustained visibility and success.
As creator Quen Blackwell said to Carthen, “if you’re a Black woman in the spotlight doing well they’ll hate 10 times harder.”
Carthen has single handedly experienced racism, colorism and misogyny from a public that routinely puts Black women on a pedestal only to pray for their public downfall. Ultimately, the intense backlash isn’t truly about a firepit comment, an unwatched season of TV or distance from former castmates. It’s a reaction to a dark-skinned Black woman stepping outside of the box assigned to her, claiming space in high fashion and demanding her longevity beyond her fifteen-minute post reality fame.
The internet’s obsession with her downfall says less about Olandria Carthen’s character, and everything about a culture that demands perfection from Black women and punishes them the moment they achieve success on their own terms. Love Island may have introduced Carthen to the world, but her resilience and undeniable influence ensure she isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.