Despite his luscious curls, impressive muscles, and tech job, Elan Bibas was still ~single and vulnerable~ when he left Love Island USA season 7. He joined the season during Casa Amor, where he pursued Cierra Ortega, who was still interested in Nic Vansteenberghe. For a minute there, Cierra seemed pretty torn between Elan and Nic (they do kinda look like twins, to be fair), but she wound up choosing Nic back at the villa. Of course, no one ended up with Cierra because she was ultimately dumped from the island following a social media racism controversy.

In an exclusive interview with Betches, Elan revealed that there’s actually “no beef” between him and Nic, even though it might have looked otherwise on screen. “With Nic, at the beginning was a little bit awkward,” he admitted about the love triangle with Cierra. “I know he wasn’t very happy about it. But Nic and I also built a really strong friendship after that.” Apparently, they even did their slick-back hairstyles together! “I gave him some of my hair product to do it,” the Love Island star dished.

During our convo, Elan opened up more about the Nic and Cierra love triangle and teased the Love Island USA season 7 reunion, which airs August 25 on Peacock. He also revealed his current relationship status… Prepare yourselves for upsetting news on that front, folks.

Love Island‘s Elan Bibas Talks Season 7 Reunion, Relationship Status, Nic And Cierra Situation

Edited for clarity.

Image Credit: Getty

Betches: So, after the show, would you say you’re officially entering your influencer era?

Elan: Honestly, I’m just trying to have fun with it and use it as a way to move towards my goals. I’ve connected with a lot of people that I’ve always really liked and that I’ve followed for long periods of time, which has been really cool. And it’s given me a platform to talk about some of the things that I care about, and for me, that’s a lot of health and wellness stuff and living happier and healthier lives and trying to inspire other people to do the same.

Betches: Who have you been most excited to meet?

Elan: The first person that I noticed when I got out of the villa, and I saw I had gotten in contact with through social media, was Eyal Booker, who a lot of people had told me prior that I look like him. And he’s also a Love Islander. So connecting with him after was just such a surreal experience. We often FaceTimed and were just chatting it up, and I was like, “This is so weird because I’ve been following you for three years.”

Betches: Looking back now, how do you feel about how things went with Cierra? And have you spoken with her since leaving the villa?

Image Credit: Getty

Elan: I mean, I think everything that was meant to happen happened. I think I had a really good experience getting to know everyone, including her, on the show. After the show, I checked in on her as a person to make sure she was doing okay and had the support that she needed.

Betches: And you’re still friends with Nic now?

Elan: Yeah. I mean, things have been very busy for both of us, but I would consider him a friend.

Betches: Have you watched the show back? Were there any moments that surprised you?

Elan: I think at the end, when I got voted off, it was when Nic and Olandria coupled up, and I didn’t know because I was in Casa at the time, the history of what had happened between them prior to that. So watching that back, it was actually so sweet to see their little coupling up when I was in Casa and everyone else was in the villa.

Betches: You filmed the reunion yesterday for 17 hours, apparently. Can you give us three words to describe that experience?

Elan: I’m going to say… I mean, it was dramatic. But I think with that also I would say pretty loving, or wholesome, maybe is another word. Excited, maybe, too, just because I think so many people were so excited to see each other. Everyone’s been busy since coming out. And also that’s basically the wrap for us, and I was like, “Okay, the path after this is completely up to us.”

Betches: Totally. What else can you tease about the reunion?

Elan: I think that pretty much everything, all the questions that people wanted answered will be answered through the reunion. I think they did a very thorough job, especially addressing anything between different people on the show.

Betches: Love to hear that. Do you have any regrets at all about your journey? Is there anyone you wish you pursued and didn’t?

Elan: I don’t even know if you could call it a regret, but I never actually connected with someone romantically. And the side of myself that is the hopeless romantic that loves doing the gestures and all of that stuff, I didn’t get to fully release that person because I didn’t connect with someone in that romantic way. So I wish I had the opportunity to do that and show that side of myself because it’s a side of myself that I really love. But outside of that, no.

Betches: Well, people online are shipping you with a bunch of different people since the show came out, so there’s still hope.

Elan: Yeah, no, definitely.

Betches: Have you dated at all since leaving the villa? What are your DMs like?

Elan: I have connected with some people outside of the show and afterwards. There’s one person who has my interest, but I’m not going to share much more than that.

Betches: That’s exciting! And would you ever go on another reality show, like Perfect Match or something? Or do you think Love Island was it?

Elan: I think if I were single and I… Not to say that I’m not single right now, but if the opportunity arose in the future and at that time I was single, and at the same time I felt like the show was very conducive to actually finding love, I think I would probably hop on that opportunity. But I’d also be open to doing something like Survivor or something. I feel like I love running ultra marathons and things, and I think something adventurous and also totally be up my alley.

Betches: Do you have a favorite memory from the whole experience?

Elan: Yes, I do, actually. At night, the guys and girls would sleep in separate beds, but the beds in Casa… All of us are like 6’4″ and above. Everyone’s big, and if we sat on the beds at the same time, the beds would break. there’s a green room that was basically one giant mattress, so the boys decided instead of sleeping in the beds, all six of us slept in that room together. We had a sleepover. And we were huge dudes. We spent the whole night just talking about stories and joking around with each other and just had the best time.

Watch the Love Island USA season 7 reunion with us! Catch the Love Island Reunion Live Reaction Stream on our Betches Youtube channel on August 25 at 9pm ET / 6pm PT.