Why was Alannah kicked off 'Love Island USA'?

For the second time this summer, a "Love Island USA" cast member has been removed from the show due to past social media posts that appeared to show the contestant using a racist slur.

Alannah Keyser, a 21-year-old college student from Miami, was ousted from Season 8 in the Thursday, June 25, episode, just days after her debut as a Casa Amor bombshell on Sunday, June 21.

As has become routine for such controversies on the Peacock dating show, her abrupt departure was briefly acknowledged by the franchise's narrator, Iain Stirling. "Alannah has left Casa Amor," Stirling declared 20 minutes into Episode 20.

"Alannah will no longer be on the show after tonight’s episode," the streamer confirmed in a statement shared with USA TODAY.

Shortly after her appearance in Sunday night's episode, a video and screenshots of messages purportedly showing Alannah using a racist slur started circulating on social media. In the Snapchat video recording, she appears to sing along to a song that uses the word.

Alannah dated Zach in Casa Amor prior to her exit

Alannah remained on the show following the social media revelations and explored a connection with Zach Georgiou, whose brother, Charlie, was on the previous season as well as the spinoff "Love Island Games." As Alannah and Zach connected over having cats and loving Marvel movies, she admitted to kissing Charlie at a party and later told her fellow Casa Amor women that she'd gone on a date with him.

In the June 23 episode, in which fans noticed she seemed to have diminished screen time, Alannah and Zach had a heated make-out during a challenge, though Zach had expressed to his friends earlier that his previous partner, Kayda Bosse, was still on his mind.

The June 25 episode showed Alannah and Zach having a conversation in which she noted he had "a little wall up," causing her to be more "reserved." Zach continued to go back-and-forth on whether his three-week relationship with Kayda was stronger, but before he could make up her mind, Alannah was removed from the cast.

Why Alannah's Casa Amor entrance sparked controversy

Posts disseminating alleged videos and screenshots of Alannah emerged as social media users speculated about her attitude toward some of the men while she partook in the raunchy "hearts on fire" challenge, also known as the heartrate challenge.

After kissing and dancing on Caleb McDaniel, Bryce Dettloff and Zach Georgiou, her level of effort seemingly dropped off for the rest of the male cast. She kissed KC Chandler's neck and said, "That's all you're getting," before repeating the phrase for Corbin Mims following a brief shake of her hips. For Sincere Rhea, the final man on the couch, she said, "You can get a little shake" and jiggled her butt.

KC is Black; Corbin has spoken about being Black and Asian; and Sincere was described as "Hispanic" by his partner, Melanie Moreno, earlier in the season.

'Love Island' Season 8 controversies

"Love Island USA," an offshoot of the wildly popular franchise that has been airing for more than a decade in the U.K., has weathered several controversies in recent years, including one that dropped right before this season premiered at the beginning of June.

Vasana Montgomery, a 25-year-old business owner from Oregon, was removed from the starting cast days ahead of the June 2 premiere after a video of Montgomery appearing to use a racial slur while singing along to a song was made public over the weekend.

Similar to Alannah, the clip of Montgomery came out right after the cast was revealed on May 28. Days later, Montgomery took to social media to apologize for the videos, which she acknowledged "hurt and upset people."

"I want to address a couple videos from my teen years that have recently resurfaced," Montgomery wrote in a June 3 Instagram story. "In those videos, I used a racial slur. There is no excuse for it, and I am deeply sorry."

She said she was "embarrassed and disappointed by my words" and added, "I have grown a lot as a person and taken the time to educate myself, listen, learn, and better understand the impact that language can have. That growth does not erase my mistake, and I am not asking anyone to excuse it."

In Season 7 of "Love Island," which aired from June 2025 to July 2025, two contestants – starting cast member Yulissa Escobar and Episode 2 bombshell Cierra Ortega – were removed during production due to past online activity that involved racial slurs.

Both issued apologies for what they called "offensive" language on social media following their exits.