The girls of โLove Island USAโ said they chose to dump Gabriel Vasconcelos from the villa because โheโs constantly looking for the next best thing, and we donโt feel like the villa will ever bring him someone heโs content with.โ
Gabriel says heโs still asking why.
The bombshell entered the villa on Day 2 and quickly formed connections with multiple islanders. He first coupled up with Beatriz Hatz before viewers voted to pair him with bombshell Jen Terry, a connection Gabriel says he was still growing when his journey came to an end.
After viewers voted again, this time for their favorite couple, Gabriel and Jen were left vulnerable. The boys safe from the vote chose to send Sol Mรฝa Dean home, arguing she was the only girl at risk of elimination not in a strong couple, sparing Jen.
But instead of Solโs unattached counterpart, Caleb McDaniel, the girls chose to send Gabriel home, claiming he hadnโt fully committed to one relationship and would likely not settle.
In a conversation with TODAY.com, Gabriel opens up about his reaction to the reasoning behind his elimination, the criticism he received for exploring multiple connections and the moments viewers didnโt get to see during his time in Fiji.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
The main reason that the girls gave for your elimination was that they felt that you werenโt fully committing to any one connection, that you werenโt going to settle. Looking back, do you feel that that was a fair assessment?
Iโm still asking myself, โWhy?โ Is it because I was exploring? Is it because I was doing the โLove Islandโ experience? I was the โcraziest one,โ you know? I donโt see any point about that answer. Iโm sorry, but Iโm completely honest and upfront with my answer, so everyone knows that … I just had to accept that, the fact that I was leaving.
After you left, Bryce defended you. He said: โJust because heโs promiscuous doesnโt mean heโs not capable of loving someone. Thatโs the most slut-shaming thing Iโve ever seen.โ What is your reaction to that?
I mean, heโs right. Heโs right. We have different backgrounds, like, it doesnโt mean that Iโm … lustful, you know. Like Brazilians, we are different, and I was literally having a good time with the girls that I was with, nobody was complaining about it.
Not even Jen was understanding the fact that I was leaving. She was like, oh, s—, like, I donโt believe that. Because it wasnโt making sense. But Iโm so glad that the guys were defending me because they knew about how I am, how I was treating the girls.
In this case, like, Jen … they know that my connection with Jen was growing. And yeah, like me and her know about it. Thatโs why Iโm not worried about anything else, and I know that what I did and that was right.
How much Spanish or Portuguese were you able to speak in the villa, and do you think there were maybe some important moments that were lost on the audience or that we didnโt get to see that happened in Portuguese?
All that I have to say about it, like, all the Latin language, theyโre more romantic. So when Iโm gonna talk about something specific, especially for feelings, I can be more โ I can give more details of how Iโm feeling. Not that Iโm gonna express perfect in Portuguese, but just differently, you know? And I can give more. I can go over more about it, and thatโs how I feel.
I feel like English, I also can do it, but itโs not the same way. Itโs not the same vibe. The thing is, if I hear, โI love youโ from someone, I know that people are gonna be loving me, but I feel if I hear โeu te amo,โ which means โlove youโ in Portuguese or in Spanish, it means more for me.
But thatโs one thing that itโs hard to explain for everyone because you just feel it. Like, if I hear โeu te amoโ from my mom, itโs different than if I hear โlove youโ โ Iโm gonna think that sheโs lying to me, because, you know, thatโs just something different, itโs hard to explain.
What do you think is the biggest misconception viewers might have about you from watching the show?
I think it was the fact that most of my conversations with the guys and with the girls were not shown. You know, itโs literally 24 hours in one hour, a lot of people talking, and if they decided they just had to put a few moments of me like, making out, that was it.
I donโt know, I mean, I think I was flirting more than everyone else, and they only got those moments. People saw me talking with Sol (for) like 5 seconds, then we went to the bed together, then I started kissing her. No, no, no! We had a conversation at least for 30 minutes before. We were talking in front of the pool for, I donโt know, like 15 minutes and then we went upstairs. We started talking like in the chairs in front of each other for 15 minutes and then we went to the bed.
So like, nobodyโs seen that, and it was looking like, oh, I went upstairs with her, I say, oh, I know what I want, and โBoom.โ No, but it wasnโt that, and thatโs funny.
We were watching it together, like, โOh s—, thatโs crazy.โ
Your goodbye with Beatriz felt really emotional. A lot of viewers saw that and felt like your connection was deeper than what was shown on our screens. Do you feel like the audience got to see the full extent of your relationship with her, or with your relationship with Jen?
I think both of my connections, they are not showing most of our things. Because we were talking the whole day, not specific when weโre going to chat. When I was pulling them for a chat, OK, I was pulling them, but during the day, we were talking about a lot of things. I feel like we lost at least 90% of conversation.
Because if I was being just crazy, just making out, probably they wouldnโt be crying for me. People need to think about it, like, โWhy they were crying for Gabriel?โ or, โWhy were they feeling sad?โ or something. Because they had something else, they had some different feelings, because we were having a good time literally. But thatโs one thing that I just, I was like, as we were leaving the villa, we know that. Thatโs life.
Have you and Bea reconnected since leaving the villa?
Yeah, we talked. We talked two days ago. Yeah, we are good.
When you look back, is there anything that you would have done differently in your experience?
No. No, I donโt have any regrets about anything.
Now that you have your social media back and youโre hearing peopleโs thoughts about the season, were there any opinions that surprised you, or things that you think the public doesnโt have the right perception about?
I really appreciate everyone who is changing their opinion about me because theyโre already noticing the way that I am. When I had the chance to talk on โAftersun,โ they were like, โOh s—, like he knows how to express himself,โ you know? And I like that because I am like that. I was one of the guys who was most like making jokes with everyone and talking s—. I was always like present with everyone.
Thatโs why I was like, โOh, s—, Iโm not โ whereโs myself in this episode?โ But Iโm good with myself, thatโs the most important thing. I know what Iโve done, and in the villa, everyone knows how I was treating them, and yeah, I was literally being myself and thatโs the most important for me.
Casa Amor is happening right now. How do you think you would have moved if you were in there?
Mm, good question. Everyone was asking me the same thing. Oh, guys. โOh, Gabriel, we are missing you in Casa Amor.โ This and that. But, guys, Iโm not there. Iโm at my casa!