NEED TO KNOW
- Rob Rausch was one of many fan-favorite stars of Love Island USA season 6, but he’s not joining his former castmates for a spinoff
- The TV personality explained why he felt it was “unauthentic” for him to join the Peacock spinoff series, Love Island: Beyond the Villa
- The new show premieres on Sunday, July 13, at 9 p.m. ET
Rob Rausch won’t be heading to California for the latest Love Island USA series.
The Love Island USA season 6 star recently joined fellow castmate JaNa Craig on an Instagram Live and chatted about his decision not to join the upcoming Peacock series, Love Island: Beyond the Villa.
The new spinoff series picked up the camera to follow season 6 stars, JaNa, 28, her boyfriend Kenny Rodriguez, Leah Kateb and Miguel Harichi, Kaylor Martin and Aaron Evans, Connor Newsum, Kendall Washington and Olivia “Liv” Walker. Serena Page is also part of the cast, along with her boyfriend, Kordell Beckham.
He explained that “the only reason” he didn’t do it is because he doesn’t live in Los Angeles. “Like, what do you want me to do? Just show up and say, ‘Hey, this is my life. I live here for eight weeks,’ ” he said, per the Instagram account Too Hot Tea.
“It just didn’t make sense,” Rob, 26, continued. “It was unauthentic to me. So I was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t think I can do it.’ ”
“You know when they told me it was L.A., I was like, ‘Just so you know I get everything handled in Vegas,’ ” JaNa added. She then noted that her team was able to work with her to find her jobs to do and content to film with YouTube and TikTok while she was in L.A. for the two months of filming.
However, she added, “The only s—-y part is… when they tell you it’s going to be a docuseries following your life that they actually follow your life… Every day I was like, ‘I can see why Rob said no.’ ”
While Rob won’t be joining his former castmates in L.A., Peacock previously announced he will be headed to Scotland for season 4 of The Traitors.
Beyond the Villa “follows everyone’s favorite Season 6 Islanders around Los Angeles as they navigate new careers, evolving friendships, newfound fame and complex relationships outside of the Love Island villa,” per the official logline.
The islanders’ relationships are at the core of the series. In the trailer, there are plenty of dramatic moments of reckoning, including between exes Kaylor and Aaron and when Nicole Jacky makes an appearance and meets her ex, Kendall, for the first time since last year’s reunion and their breakup.
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Love Island: Beyond the Villa premieres on Sunday, July 13, at 9 p.m. ET on Peacock, followed by new episodes every Thursday beginning July 17.
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