Tragically, the sixth season of Love Island USA ended on Sunday night, July 21, leaving an inescapable void at 9 p.m. ET every night until the finale airs on August 19.
The Peacock dating reality series became the most-streamed original series in the U.S., as reported by Variety. Serena Page and Kordell Beckham, brother to Miami Dolphins star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., won this season. America also fell in love with fellow finalists Leah Ketab, Miguel Harichi, JaNa Craig, Kenny Rodriguez, Kendall Washington, and Nicole Jacky.
And then there was Rob Rausch, the self-proclaimed snake-wrangler who fell one episode short of the final. Fans held out hope that Rob would reunite with Leah, whom he had a spark with at the beginning of the season, but he might be coupling up with someone outside of the Love Island USA cast.
On Wednesday evening, July 24, this photo began circulating on X (formerly Twitter) showing Rob in a car with Nessa Barrett, a gold-certified pop singer-songwriter.
As of this writing, all we have to go from is a singular photo of Barrett and Rob seemingly innocently riding in the same car. Nobody should jump to any romantic assumptions, considering Rob was part of five (!) couples during his month in the villa.
Earlier Wednesday, Alex Cooper dropped her Call Her Daddy interview with Rob, and Cooper pressed Rob on whether he has lingering feelings for Leah. “I think after everything, I think we will be amazing friends, and I think I’d rather just focus on that for now,” he said.
Pertaining to his purported hang with Barrett, Cooper asked whether any famous women had slid into his DMs after the show, and he confirmed “a few” did but noted, “I think, right now, at this point in time, I’m pretty emotionally drained. I don’t know if I’m ready for anything like that.”