In the Love Island USA villa, each season asks singles to find love connections and maintain them until the season’s end. Season 7 is no different, but what if two of those singles walk into the villa with a prior connection? That’s what fans are speculating with Ace Greene and Chelley Bissainthe.

During the Season 7 premiere episode, the pair admitted to host Ariana Madix that they knew each other, and since then rumors have circulated online about the true nature of their relationship going into the villa.

Wild rumors have even said that the couple is secretly married and have a baby outside of the show.

Read on for more about the rumors and what the true nature of Greene and Bissainthe’s relationship was before the villa.

Chelley Bissainthe and Ace Greene said they met outside of a New York club

As fans saw during the first episode of the season, Bissainthe was taken aback when Greene made his villa debut with Nicolas Vansteenberghe, NBC Insider reported.

“Wait, wait, wait. This can’t be real life,” Bissainthe said as Greene appeared.

He jubilantly responded, “I know you!” as he gave her a hug.

Madix jumped in and asked, “Wait, Ace, did you just say you know Chelley?”

The viral TikTok star admitted that the pair do, in fact, know each other and met in New York “outside of the club.”

Bissainthe explained that they “met and we were talking on Instagram and stuff,” but their conversation didn’t go beyond that, as Greene lives in Los Angeles and she lives in Orlando.

“Oh my God, this is insane,” Bissainthe said of their reunion.

Bissainthe and Greene went on to share a kiss during the season-opening episode; however, the pair hit a bump in the road when Greene ended up paired with Yulissa Escobar. Later, Bissainthe and Greene reunited, and they’re currently coupled up on the show.

Chelley Bissainthe’s team clears up the rumors in a statement shared on social media

Things between Bissainthe and Greene may be coming up roses in the villa, but in real life, fans have accused the couple of concealing the closeness of their relationship before coming on the show. While the pair are filming in Fiji, Bissainthe’s team and friends cleared up the rumors on social media.

“We want to be transparent and clear the air as some of the rumors have gotten far from the truth,” said a statement shared on Bissainthe’s social media accounts last week. “Chelley and Ace briefly crossed paths in New York and later connected on social media.”

The statement went on to directly address rumors of a secret relationship between the two and whether or not they have a child.

“They were never in a relationship, never lived together and there are no children or hidden past,” it reads. “What’s unfolding now is real, unscripted and could change at any moment.”

They concluded by sharing their support of Bissainthe, no matter how the season ends for her.

“We’re fully supporting Chelley, wherever her heart leads and with whomever she chooses to couple [up] with,” they noted in the statement.