Love Island USA's Kenzie Annis Reacts to Sincere Rhea Comparisons

Love Island USA's Kenzie Annis Reacts to Dancing With the Stars Casting Rumors

Kenzie Annis is (clam) slamming critics.

The 24-year-old expressed her frustration with people comparing her behavior on Love Island USA season eight with finalist Sincere Rhea’s, drawing a clear line between her actions and his.

“I feel like he did lie a good bit to not only Melanie [Moreno],” she told host Alex Cooper in the July 15 episode of Call Her Daddy, “but like some other girls and his guy friends.”

Indeed, Rhea developed quite a notorious reputation for being dishonest during the recently concluded installment of the Peacock dating series. Although he made it to the finals on July 12 with Moreno— they placed third after winners Trinity Tatum and Bryce Detloff and runners up Aniya Harvey and Carl Schmidt—their journey to love was quite tumultuous.

The 25-year-old received major backlash inside and out of the villa, especially after the Movie Night episode revealed that he had lied to Moreno as well as islanders Sol Dean and Amora Robinson about his intentions with them, secretly telling each woman they were his No. 1 choice. In one particularly damning moment, the cast were shown a clip in which Rhea called both Moreno and Dean “beloved.”

In Annis’ eyes, there’s a clear difference between what he did and how she moved during the show. Although she was dishonest about a secret kiss with Corbin Mims, withholding the information from her partner at the time Caleb McDaniel, the splits connoisseur felt like she didn’t exaggerate the depth of her various connections in the same way Rhea had.

“I never called them any names, [or made] fake promises,” she said. “I tried to be as open as possible to who I was talking to. … There was never any ‘Who's better?’ kind of thing.”

As for the reaction that her fellow islanders had to her actions compared to their response to Rhea’s, Annis admitted that it felt “sexist.” Notably, Annis pointed to being chastised by her fellow female contestants, who later shared they were “Team Sincere” when Moreno had serious doubts about their connection due to the footage. (Despite criticizing Annis’ clips, all of the girls carried on with their friendships in the aftermath of Movie Night.)

Ben Symons/Peacock via Getty Images

“I don't know why the girls were holding me to a different standard than Sincere,” she continued. “Especially after getting out, it does feel like sexist almost ‘cause I'm not a male and it's like I can't move like them.”

Still, Annis made it clear that she wasn’t completely blameless in how she moved with Mims and McDaniel—and later Gal Tshnieder and her current love interest Dylan Wrona.

“Honestly, seeing it, I was like, ‘Okay, that was s--tty of me,’" Annis confessed. “And I shouldn't have gone about it and said certain words that I did. And I could see more of why Caleb felt so led on.”

And Annis is not the only person spilling Love Island tea. Read on for more secrets from the villa…

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