Kay Kay Gray and Chris Seeley were riding high on Love Island Games Season 2 as a power couple — until they weren’t. Their swift rise and fall in the competition left fans stunned, and the couple is now reflecting on the whirlwind experience that took them from top of the villa to walking out the door.
“Yeah, I felt like it went from being on top of the world to being below,” Kay Kay said in their exit interview with Blavity’s Shadow and Act. “It was just crazy and it happened so fast. I personally don’t feel like we did anything wrong, like we could have done anything better. We had our strategy that we were talking about and we were just trying to build alliances because we knew being a power couple so early would put targets on our backs, so we didn’t want to piss too many people off in the process to ultimately get us to where we are now.
She continued, “I feel like we could have strategized and tried to send the most biggest competitors home, but for example, when we could make somebody vulnerable, we chose Solene and Mert instead of Justine and Josh or Garbi and Kendall because we felt like, ‘OK, they’re good competitors, America probably loves them, so if we make them vulnerable right now and they don’t go home, now they’re going to be gunning for us.’ So we’re like, ‘Let’s make somebody vulnerable that we’re not going to have to face later.’ And so that was ultimately our strategy in that, but it was crazy — power couple to dumped so fast.”
Chris and Kay Kay get candid on Heart Rate Challenge
Chris agreed, saying the challenge that got them eliminated didn’t feel like a fair way to judge performance.
“Yeah, and being dumped over a lap dance challenge is kind of crazy in my opinion,” he said. “I feel like in the aspect of Love Island Games, I know that’s a Love Island statement as far as the show and having that type of challenge, but as far as games go, I feel like it should all be athletically based, which is all we faced before that. So the fact that we became vulnerable and put in that position because of that is kind of wild. And then again, even in our heart rate challenge, I don’t think we did that bad to where we should have been vulnerable too. So there’s a few things that I’m questioning, but at the end of the day, it is what it is. And like you said, the cards were dealt a certain way and got to move on from it.”
Kay Kay also spoke about how the other Islanders were “preparing to keep their heart rates down” for them.
“They were just trying to be stone-faced; they were just trying to be their heart rate to not go up at all,” she continued. “That’s their target.”
Chris said, “I get why they did that. But at the end of the day, I just don’t feel like that should have been a playing factor of us being vulnerable or not in that situation. So yeah.”
Kay Kay on Nicola wanting to pull her for a chat before the duel
The emotions only intensified when Nicola had to choose who to put up for the duels, leaving both her and Kay Kay in difficult positions.
“Yeah, so I was never actually angry with her or upset with her personally,” Kay Kay said. “I was just really trying to focus. I was doing my affirmations and praying and just trying to manifest this win because I’m already super overly emotional at the fact that it’s going to be either me or my best friend that’s leaving the villa. There’s no lifeline, there’s no voting, there’s no islander choosing — one of us is going home, period, point blank — and that was already just rushing through my head. So I was emotional about that, and I was like, ‘OK, I have to get my energy right.'”
She continued, “I wasn’t ever upset with her. I know what it’s like to be in a power couple and have to make a crazy decision that’s impossible for everybody. So I was never holding that against her, but I did feel like whenever she approached me at the orange couch and I got up and walked away, it was because I had just cleansed my energy and got my mind together.” But when she came, I’m a person who absorbs people’s energy and when she came, the energy was so heavy that I was like, ‘Oh no, I can’t do this because I’m about to fight for my life.’ I am literally about to do this, do-or-die duel right now, and I just have to get my mind. So I went back to my little area to refresh my mind, and she comes over there and she asks if we can talk. And for me, it just wasn’t the time. I could tell she was really apologetic, but I just really wasn’t in the space to comfort her because I was trying to comfort me and that’s all that was. I was really apologetic that I made her feel bad. That was never my intention to make her more upset than she already was. I just couldn’t do it at that time.”
Kay Kay on relationship with Andrea
Beyond the game strategy and challenges, Kay Kay also opened up about her close bond with Andrea — a friendship that made their duel even more emotional.
“Yeah, so before we even got to games, we followed each other, we were mutuals. I wouldn’t say we were good friends, but we knew of each other and we supported each other. And so when we met and saw each other for the first time before we walked into the villa together, we instantly had a connection of like, ‘Oh yeah, she’s my vibe.’ We prayed together and we were saying affirmations together and stuff, and we made a pact of like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to do this together. We want to see each other at the end.’ And that carried out throughout the villa. Like whenever things were going on, I would be telling her my business, and she would be telling me her business. I guess it didn’t show all of that, but we were really close. Every time it came down to like, ‘Oh, s**t, something’s about to go down,’ it was me and her.”
Here’s who Chris and Kay Kay want to win in ‘Love Island Games’ Season 2
As for who they want to win the whole thing? Both of the Islanders have some folks in mind.
“I’m rooting for Andrea, and I think she can win,” asid Kay Kay. “I really do think she can win. I think she’s smart, I think all the guys love her, and I think she’s strong and she’s very competitive. So I think she has a potential to win and I’m definitely rooting for her. I’m rooting for all the girls, to be honest. I just met them and fell in love with all of them.”
Chris also shared who he believes could take the whole thing.
“I would say for me, it probably most likely be Josh,” he said. “He’s very competitive and he don’t play about winning and I felt like he has a huge chip on his shoulder, especially on how he went out his season. I feel like he got a lot of different motivations and something to prove, and that’s going to take him far.”
Watch the full video with more of Gray and Seeley’s responses above. The interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Love Island Games Season 2 airs each day except for Wednesdays on Peacock.