Kenny Rodriguez, JaNa Craig. Ben Symons/Peacock
JaNa Craig and Kenny Rodriguez found a special connection in the Love Island USA villa, but they aren’t in a rush to take the next steps.
“I don’t want to move [to Dallas] right away. I think we could do our own thing, change our work schedules so we can spend time [and do], like, a year of visiting each other — or less maybe — but me moving to Dallas right now would be crazy,” JaNa, 27, said during the Wednesday, July 31, episode of “The Viall Files” podcast.
JaNa and Kenny, 24, met in the Love Island villa during season 6, traveling from their respective hometowns of Las Vegas and Dallas to the Fiji property. While they came out of the reality TV show in a committed relationship, JaNa doesn’t want to follow Kenny to Texas too quickly.
“He leaves [Los Angeles, where the podcast episode was taped] today and I’m so sad! It was like, ‘Oh, we’re gonna be good and FaceTime all the time,’” JaNa said. “But knowing that I’m [here] until Tuesday and he’s leaving today, I was like, ‘This sucks because we spent every day together for the past month and a half.’ It’s, like, we’re naturally best friends and partners. For him to leave, it’s super sad.”
They got a text — and found love in the Love Island USA villa. The beloved British dating show made its way across the pond in 2019, following a crop of American bombshells searching for The One in a luxury tropical villa. In season 1, eventual winners Elizabeth Weber and Zac Mirabelli had a connection […]
Kenny also feels the same way, revealing on Wednesday that JaNa’s “touch” is what he’ll miss the most.
“I think she makes me feel great,” he gushed. “Like, she’ll put her hands through my hair. That’s her love language and she does a great job at making me feel appreciated.”
JaNa Craig, Kenny Rodriguez. Ben Symons/Peacock
JaNa further pointed out that her man “be looking at [her] all the time,” which indicates that “he cares.”
“He’ll be like, ‘You’re so beautiful,’ and I’ll be like, ‘Kenny, stop! [I] love it,’” JaNa added, teasing that she hopes their romance will work out. “I think we have a bright future … and I said, ‘I could see this long-term.’ We’ll see.”
Kenny, for his part, can see their relationship lasting since they are already “best friends.”
“That level of communication and trust that we already have speaks volumes,” he added, noting that their first date “said a lot” about their strong connection. “We spent eight hours on that first date, [which] kind of kicked off where we’re at. I’m just staring at her, like, it was a lot to look at. … There really isn’t much that we don’t talk about.”
Despite a special connection, JaNa and Kenny did not consummate their relationship inside the villa.
“We did not have sex in the Hideaway,” JaNa asserted. “Mom, I did not have sex [on the show]! We did other things, but it wasn’t [sex]. Personally, you’ll never catch me [hooking up on camera], and there were other islanders, like, inches apart [in their beds]. Like, have some respect for the others, you feel me?”
Now that the show has wrapped, JaNa stressed that Kenny is an 11 “on a scale of 1 to 10” in the bedroom.
“He’s really good at surprises,” she quipped. “Every day he surprises me with something new.”
