Viall Files Recap: What Love Island USA’s Nicole Said About Kendall

It’s hard not to wonder if Kendall Washington got an early listen of Nicole Jacky’s appearance on the “Viall Files” podcast before he pulled the plug on their romance.

Hours after Nicole announced via Instagram Stories that Kendall broke up with her — two days after they allegedly agreed to work on things — Nicole’s pre-recorded episode of Nick Viall’s podcast dropped on Wednesday, August 21.

“I feel like I’ve been navigating a lot and then there’s been a couple other things he’s lied to me about,” Nicole told the former Bachelor. “We’re still together. Like, I’ve been trying to work through it with him, but it’s not this one-time thing.”

In July, Nicole and Kendall left the Love Island USA Villa as a couple, even saying “I love you” during the finale. Finishing in fourth place, their happy ending was short-lived when a nude video of Kendall leaked online while the cast was still in Fiji. Kendall addressed the scandal via Instagram Stories at the time.

“I just want to address the content that came out from my past. That was something I shared to someone in confidence and trust,” he wrote in part. “It’s unfortunate that it’s no longer private but it is what it is.”

According to Nicole, Kendall told her a similar story in their shared hotel room.

“I felt f—king awful,” she recalled. “He shows me the end of the video, like, a screenshot of it. So, I don’t really have the context of, like, where he is or whatever. … I’m like, ‘Oh, my God.’ And he’s like, ‘I sent this to someone in my past, an ex, [who] I really trusted.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, I am so sorry. That’s terrible.’”

As their costars began checking in on Nicole, she started to wonder if there was more to the story. JaNa Craig then showed her the full clip, which revealed that the video was filmed in the Fiji hotel room that the group stayed in just before they entered the Villa. Kendall then confessed that the video was sent to someone he met on the dating app Raya — and not an ex-girlfriend.

The video was a hot topic at the season 6 reunion, with Nicole stating that Kendall lying about the origins of the video caused her to have trust issues. She also claimed he didn’t reach out to check on her as social media continued to chatter about the status of their relationship, while he argued that she wanted space.

“This just puts me in such a f—ked position because I care about you too and I love you and people are questioning that,” she told Kendall at the reunion as several cast members took Kendall’s side. “Even though you let the world think we’re not together, we’re still together.”

Following Nicole’s statement about their split on Tuesday, August 20, Kendall released a comment of his own.

“I have decided to end things with Nicole. It reached a point where it was not healthy for us to continue the relationship,” he wrote. “I still love and care for Nicole. I’ve never developed such strong feelings for a woman in my life. I have no regrets for the connection I made with her in the villa and it was real. She does not deserve any hate. Please stop with the negative comments/DM’s. We’re taking this time to focus on our mental health. Thank you guys.”

Keep scrolling for more from Nicole on “Viall Files”:

The Alleged Club Appearance

Nicole claimed that Kendall lied to her about more than just the video. When asked for details, she brought up Kendall and costar Kenny Rodriguez going to a club in L.A. post-show.

“He lied to me about an altercation he had out at the club with some girls. Apparently he kicked out two girls out of a booth who were Black and they [called] him racist, basically. Which, he’s not,” Nicole said. (Us has reached out to Kendall for comment.)

Nicole noted that Kendall wanted to “make the situation right” and decided to invite the women to hang out the next day.

“It’s all these girls in this booth. He told me it was only close friends and family in the booth. Then he is like, ‘Yeah, no family was actually there. … These girls just had it out for me, like, it’s not my fault. I had to invite them to the day partying and interact with them and post ’em on my social media the next day. I had to do that,’” Nicole said. “He wanted to squash the beef and show America that they’re good. It was a misunderstanding. … He also told me that it was Kenny and him, ‘Kenny and me did this. Kenny and me did this. JaNa helped me plan [the outing for the next day].’ And I called JaNa. She’s like, ‘No, I didn’t. I told him, you should apologize. I didn’t tell him how he should apologize. That’s on him.’ … Do what you gotta do, but he also didn’t clue me into anything. I sent him a screenshot of these girls on his Story and he literally is just like, ‘Did you not hear about the drama?’ No, I haven’t.”

The Video Details

Nicole recalled finding out from JaNa that there was more to the story when it came to the leaked video of Kendall.

“JaNa pulls me in the bathroom and she’s like, ‘Are you OK?’ And I’m like, ‘Why is everybody asking?’ I’m like, ‘I’m good. I just really feel for Kendall, like, this sucks, whoever did this, it’s f—ked up.’ She’s like, ‘Have you seen the video?’ And I’m like, ‘No. I saw a picture,’” Nicole recalled. “I had just been in the room with him for the past night, [so I quickly see] it’s his hotel room in Fiji before he went on the show. I just literally fell to the floor and lost it because that’s not what he told me.”

The Dating App

Kendall told Nicole that the person he sent the NSFW video to was actually a woman he met on Raya.

“[He said], ‘Yeah, I lied to you. I’m sorry. I couldn’t tell you the truth in that moment. My world was crumbling down and I thought if I told you the truth, you would leave me. I thought you would judge me,’” Nicole said. “And I’m like, ‘Well, you know, I wouldn’t have, [but] now I am.’ And now his excuse is that he was bored in the hotel room and sent it to some girl on Raya. I was bored in the hotel room playing f—king crossword puzzles.”

Nicole told Nick that she doesn’t necessarily believe Kendall’s story at this point.

“I told him, if that’s what happened, fine. But I would’ve almost rather [he had sent it] to someone he loved or someone he trusted. I don’t want this to come off the wrong way because I think no matter the context, having his video leaked is awful,” Nicole said. “I don’t agree with that, 100 percent. However, I told him this last night, I’m also now affected by your actions, whether you meant to do it or not. … I am taking a lot of heat for him. … He’s never once stood up and spoken the truth about us or said, ‘I lied to Nicole.’”

The Fallout

According to Nicole, Peacock wanted to film the fallout of the leaked video drama when the twosome returned to L.A. following the cast’s trip to Universal.

“He wanted to talk to me at Universal and [I said] I want to have this talk privately,” she said. “We [then] had a private talk in L.A. and the show also wanted to film that. And I said, ‘No, I need to just talk to him without cameras around. This is real life.’”

The Efforts Made

The cast argued at the reunion that Kendall was trying to make an effort with Nicole while also giving her space. She told Nick that she didn’t trust his intentions.

“I just feel like it’s not genuine. [He’s like], ‘I’ll do anything. I’ll fly to Sac to get a coffee with you.’ And I’m like, ‘I just told you, I’m busy for the weekend before we leave for New York and I have s—t to do.’ [But now if I say no, like, that looks bad on me, like, I’m turning you down.”