Love Island USA’s Connor and Cass Have ‘Started Talking’ Outside the Villa

Cass Laudano may have picked Rob Rausch over Connor Newsum in the Love Island USA villa, but the two dumped Islanders have “started talking” after getting home from Fiji.

“She got out and I was like, ‘Hey, so what's up?’ We’ve been texting and, maybe, potentially making some light plans,” Connor told Us Weekly during an exclusive interview on Wednesday, July 3. "We got along really well. We had a lot in common. We had a few conversations that were just really easy and we work in the same career field. … We just had a lot of similar interests, love for animals. I think everyone saw that weird fishing conversation we had when I was making her grilled cheese. Just random stuff like that. She's really easy to talk to, she's gorgeous and just fun to be around."

Connor made the revelation when asked about Cass being the second girl that he and close friend Rob had in common in the villa after they both dated Leah Kateb. Fans watched Connor and Leah’s connection quickly fizzle (on her side) without him being fully aware that she stopped having feelings for him.

"I'm still thinking, like, 'How much of that was legitimate?’ It's a good question, honestly,” Connor said when Us inquired. “I feel as though, in the beginning, there was mutual interest. When I first came into the villa, Leah and I had a conversation and we expressed mutual interest in each other. And then that just never went anywhere. I became pretty close with Rob and I saw how close Rob and Leah were, and then when that ended, Leah and I went up to each other one day.”

Connor now believes that he is “not the type of guy that [Leah] goes for.”

“She told me a lot of the types of guys that she has dated in the past, and I was like, 'I don't think any of those line up with me,'” he continued, later revealing that Miguel Harichi may be the closest to her expectations. “As things progressed, I [think] it became a little less legitimate on my end. I think I put some blinders up, like, just wanting to be happy and wanting to find the good connection and thinking, 'Hey, I'm talking to somebody who I have a lot in common with and can enjoy having nice conversations with.’”

Connor said his fellow Islanders were trying to clue him in on the fact that Leah might not be as into him as he was into her, but he tried to ignore the noise: "She was telling me she was happy and I'm like, 'Who am I to not listen to the person I'm coupled up with?'”

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Connor called his decision to try to commit to Leah during the dance challenge as his “last ditch” effort with his fellow islander.

"When I got to that game, I was like, ‘This is perfect. I feel like they designed this game for me, I know exactly what I'm gonna do here. I'm gonna stay.' I knew at that point, there was a 90 percent chance that she was not standing there [declaring she wants to be exclusive],” he explained. “But I figured the 10 percent chance she's still standing there and I did walk away, then I would lose sleep over that. That would make me feel terrible. I was like, 'She's probably gonna walk away, but I'll get the answer that I need and I'll be OK with it.' One thing that did annoy me though is then I lost face time with Cass when she came in because I was stuck on the balcony with, you know, eating sour candy with Kordell."

When circling back to him and Rob having interest in the same women, Connor revealed there was almost a moment between Rob and his initial connection, JaNa Craig, too. "Rob and I seemed to just gravitate toward the same kind of girls. Rob was even like, 'JaNa's gorgeous, JaNa's gorgeous,” Connor said. “I'm like, 'Dude, we can't do this again.' I was chuckling about it, you know, Rob and I are close. We're pretty open about our communication.”

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Connor was dumped from the villa when Cass opted to couple up with Rob after a few days of getting to know the guys. "She had a tough decision. She was crying when she made the decision,” Connor said. “She barely knew Rob. She barely knew me."

While Cass was dumped shortly after, a single Rob is currently in Casa Amor with the remaining men. Before he went to Casa, however, there appeared to be a romantic connection forming in Rob’s friendship with Liv Hawkins.

“That's something Rob and I had actually talked about right before I left. I think Liv really caught Rob's eye when Liv backed Rob in that whole argument with Leah,” Connor said. “I mean, Liv's gorgeous, right? So it's not like that's a big shocker that he would be attracted to her. I think Rob and I were both, like, the whole time we were like, ‘Liv's kind of scary, but in a really sexy way.’”

So where does that leave Andrea Carmona — the bombshell who Rob had a breakdown over when the female Islanders opted to eliminate her after her four-day whirlwind romance with him? According to Connor, it’s likely that Rob and Andrea will be the next pair to reconnect outside of the show.

"That night where Cass was gonna pick between Rob and I, Rob was like, 'Hey, whatever happens, it's all good. Think I'm just gonna catch the first flight to Miami' — that's where Andrea lives. I think he has all the plans to see Andrea when he gets out," Connor said. "That felt very real, even though it was four days, time moves a little differently in the villa. I think he just went with the mindset that like, 'If I leave, there's a chance that it doesn't work with Andrea on the outside and then I might regret leaving, but if I stay, I can always see her on the outside in a couple weeks.' But you never know what's gonna happen in there, like, with Liv or with Casa. So we'll see. I mean, Rob felt pretty fast for Leah, felt pretty fast for Andrea. But I do know that he really, really liked Andrea and she likes him. I've been texting with all the people that are out now, and she's definitely so interested in seeing Rob too."

New episodes of Love Island USA drop six days a week at 6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET on Peacock.