TJ Asked Producers If Iris Was "Acting" When They First Met: "I Couldn't Believe It"
It all started in Fiji for Beyond the Villa stars TJ and Iris.
They might not be on Love Island anymore, but romance has definitely been in the air for Iris Kendall and TJ Palma. While the lovebirds didn't leave Fiji as a couple, they eventually reconnected once they got back to the states and rekindled their romance they were building in the Villa.
Nowadays, as we've seen on Love Island: Beyond the Villa Season 2, Iris and TJ are officially coupled up. During Episode 2, TJ pulled off a romantic gesture, with the help of Amaya "Papaya" Espinal and Jeremiah Brown, to ask Iris to be his girlfriend. After driving along the Pacific Coast Highway, TJ surprised Iris with flowers and a massive gold box. Inside was a note taped to a teddy bear that said, "Will you be my girlfriend?" Clearly overjoyed, Iris gave him a kiss and told him, "Of course!" She later told cameras she'd been waiting for that exact question since "the moment TJ walked through the villa."
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Indeed, those butterflies were very much there in the early days of their romance. And, as they revealed in an interview with Peacock Blog, they were locked in when they first met on Love Island USA.
Iris reveals her immediate connection with TJ on Love Island USA was "unreal and so amazing"
"When TJ first came in, it was a couple of days before we were sent off to Casa Amor," Iris recalled, adding that she and TJ "literally had like two chats" before they were separated and free to flirt with new sexy bombshells. Iris, however, was a tad distracted.
"The whole time I was in Casa, I was just thinking about him," Iris said, explaining that she worried TJ might form a stronger connection with someone else. "He's with these girls longer than he was with me ... He could very well be with them and couple up with them. But I took a risk."
The risk? Iris chose to couple up with TJ after Casa Amor — and he chose her as well.
"We just ended up like blindly picking each other," Iris said. "In the car on the way back to the villa, I was like, 'You know what, guys? I'm going home. Bye, guys.'"
TJ revealed that he and Iris "had a great last chat before Casa" and that was what "really solidified" his decision. He did, however, have a moment of wondering if Iris was too good to be true.
"I never met someone like her before. She was just like the sweetest, nicest person," TJ recalled. "I remember telling the producers, 'Is she acting right now? Or is this how she actually is?' And no, this is her. I couldn't believe it. From that moment forward, I was like, 'This is the girl.'"
"Our connection was just so like unreal and so amazing that we picked each other," Iris gushed.
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TJ called Iris his "safe place" on Love Island: Beyond the Villa
Now officially boyfriend and girlfriend, Iris admitted on Beyond the Villa that she wished he had asked her sooner.
"I'm happy that you asked me, I was waiting. I was like, 'When is he gonna do that? What's taking so long here?"' Iris told TJ, who said he wanted to "make it special and wait for the right moment."
"You're like my safe place," TJ told Iris, clearly touched by his words. "Aww, you are mine, too," she said. "I'm really thankful and really lucky to have you."
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In their interview with Peacock Blog, TJ said he's happy they'll now get to clear the air on any speculation about their romance, referring to the post-villa drama with Iris' Love Island finalist Pepe Garcia.
"We had a crazy journey," TJ said. "I'm glad that people will actually find out what really happened. There's a lot of speculation and stuff. So it's cool to clear the air and have everything, you know, really out there."
Keep up with their love story by watching new episodes of Love Island: Beyond the Villa on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. ET/ 9 p.m. ET, exclusively on Peacock.
Reporting by Stephanie Gomulka
