Why Mackenzie didn't find romance on 'Love Island': 'You look just like my ex-boyfriend'

Mackenzie Dipman had “a huge birthday weekend planned” in August when a casting producer reached out to her for the first time since she’d appeared on Season 2 of “Love Island USA” in 2020.

“She was like, ‘Are you single? Are you vaccinated?’ And I was like, ‘Hm, what is this leading to?’” Dipman told The Arizona Republic.

“Within a couple of days,” she said, the Peacock show — now in its fourth season — teased on Aug. 16 that Dipman would be coming back to “Love Island.”

She canceled her plans and instead celebrated her 26th birthday in a Santa Barbara, California, mansion with 11 new friends on the reality TV show (who, by the way, baked and decorated a cake for her).

In September 2020, Dipman — freshly graduated from Arizona State University — entered the “Love Island” villa as a Day 1 contestant. Though she was unexpectedly eliminated in Week 4, she and fellow contestant Connor Trott ultimately had the longest-lasting relationship outside of the show among the cast members.

Get caught up: Week 5 involved five people leaving, a Day 1 contestant being dumped

Her journey was much shorter this time around — she entered in Episode 27 as the last new cast member of the season and left in Episode 33 — but it was on her own terms: In Episode 33, before the men could reveal whether they would save Dipman or Phoebe Siegel from being dumped, Dipman self-eliminated.

From what happened when she walked in on Chad Robinson and Siegel’s make-out session to which other Season 4 men she’s interested in, here’s what Mackenzie Dipman had to say about her most recent “Love Island” experience.

A primer on Mackenzie: What happened to her in Season 2 and what she's up to now

How Mackenzie Dipman ended up back on ‘Love Island’

Question: What were the conversations leading up to you coming back to "Love Island"?

Answer: It was very much just very spontaneous. I all of a sudden got a phone call once the season was already going on. I had seen a couple of episodes. I wasn't, like, fully caught up. And then I (got) a text from one of the people in casting, and I hadn't heard from her probably since the show.

And she was like, "Are you single? Are you vaccinated?" And I was like, "Hm, what is this leading to?" sort of thing.

And then it actually happened just within a couple of days. I had a huge birthday weekend planned. I had to cancel in a very vague way cause I couldn't tell anybody where I was going.

I did it just before I gave my phone up. So that way nobody could ask too many follow-up questions, and I could see the messages coming in. And my girlfriends are like, "Maybe she's going on The Bachelor!? And I was like, "Oh man, they really just don't know what's coming." But why would you expect it?

Obviously they did it (on “Love Island” UK) this year. Perhaps (bringing back former cast member Adam Collard) was what partially inspired it; I'm not really sure. But either way, I was very thankful for the opportunity, and I was single and vaccinated, so I was like, "'Sure."

I think it was really cool because moreso than maybe some of my other castmates on Season 2, my story was kind of unfinished. Like, my departure was really sudden and there wasn't really much of a buildup. It was just like, boom, OK, Mackenzie's gone. And most of the other OGs made it to the finale, or they kind of got closure on their chapters.

And I sort of felt like mine was always unwritten. And that's why when this came up, I felt like, you know, not like, "Who better?" but also I think that people were invested in my story, and they wanted to see me get that closure from it.

Exclusive: Why so many Arizonans — including Mackenzie — are on reality shows

Why Mackenzie friend-zoned Joel

Q: When you and Joel Bierwert were walking out together, I was reminded of your Season 2 departure. I think you got to talk to Connor on FaceTime when you left, and I wondered whether Joel would get the same treatment with Bella Barbaro.

A: I think that they really do champion love at "Love Island." At the end of the day, they mess with us a lot, but when they see a couple that really connects, they do want happiness for them. So who knows? Maybe we haven't seen the last of Bella and Joel. I'm going to place, like, a dark horse bet on them that they could end up being, like, the longest-lasting couple.

Q: When he left, he was like, "I got to know Bella for 24 hours."

A: It was not much time.

Hearing that people wanted Joel and I together, I'm not surprised. Like America ... I knew they were going to do that. ... Like, "Oh, he looks like Connor and he's this really sweet guy."

I know that everybody was thinking that, and that's why — I don't think they aired it, but — in my conversation with Joel my first night where I, like, friend-zoned him, basically, I said, "I'm so sorry, but they did you dirty because you look just like my ex-boyfriend, and I will never date someone that looks like that again. I'm so sorry. Like, it's just not happening."

My two, like, exes, I guess you would say, in the last two years — I obviously was seeing Carl (Radke) from “Summer House” — they both have that similar bearded look. Never again. No, I have not dated anybody like that since. And I won't ever again. Two was enough! It's not even my type. It's literally not even my type.

‘I think that my first time … was almost haunting me’

Q: You alluded to the fact that you had more of an advisory role this season. What have you learned about yourself in the last two years that informed what you were looking for in the villa?

A: I went into the villa feeling like, I mean, everyone hopefully grows up over the span of two years. So I knew that I would likely react to things differently in the villa than I did the first time. But I was just really having an open-mind mentality of having fun, wanting to meet somebody. Like, I have been truly single for a year now, so I really was open to having a new relationship in my life.

What happened in Week 4: Kyle left, couples split: What you might have missed

But what I didn't fully realize, I think, is that I think that my first time and the way that everything happened was almost haunting me. And I think that I needed to gain a sense of closure with myself and validate (myself): "OK, Mackenzie, you saw these things in yourself in Season 2 that you wanted to change and you wanted to improve on. And you're such (an) advocate of self growth; let's see if you've actually done that work."

I really felt pretty early on, like after '80s night, that I had done, from my point of view, all that I needed to do. Because I felt like, "OK, you are that person that you've been working towards being," and that's great. And it's such an amazing feeling to have that validation. Not on physical appearance, not on anything like that, just on the person that you've become.

'I was like the ghost of Christmas past. ... I was ready to leave'

Q: You came in not only with the bangs but with a little more knowledge than before.

A: Zeta and Deb and I were joking that I was like the ghost of Christmas past, and I couldn't move on until I had to help everybody with whatever their mission was, basically. And I said that to Deb on my last night, and I (was) like, "I can't leave until we really get to the nitty gritty" because I knew I wanted to go. I had expressed to producers that I was ready to leave.

I had an amazing time in there. It just felt like at that point in the process, if you're not in a relationship, then you probably shouldn't be there.

Luckily for me, though, when I went in, I was never of the mindset like, "I want to make it to the finals this time." I felt like there were so many couples that have been putting in this work from day one that I really never saw that for myself. I really only saw myself hopefully making it at least a day. I suppose with recoupling 24 hours in, I could have even gone home in 24 hours.

Week 3 recap: New arrivals make one islander 'hope the kitchen burns down'

'I did originally have my eye on Jared'

Q: I’m pretty sure you get the opportunity to more or less watch in real time or catch up so you know what you’re getting into, right?

A: A little bit. I was kind of far behind, though, when I went in.

Q: When you came into the show, you said that the people who were gone you weren’t interested in anyway. Can you elaborate on that? Also, I’m sure your opinions changed seeing them versus meeting them in real life.

A: I'm not going to lie; it was tough that I do feel as though some of the guys that had gone home I might have had a stronger connection with, like, even some of the guys who went home much earlier. But it's also just so hard to tell until you meet them in person because you're seeing, like, such a limited dimension of their personality on television. You're going mostly off of looks.

So, like, looks-wise, I knew that a lot of guys in there I was attracted to, but I also felt like more so than probably any other U.S. season, couples seemed very, very settled.

I did originally have my eye on Jared (Hassim) pretty much from the moment he walked in, and … even Zeta said this when I was describing the type of guy that I was looking for — she's like, "Well, you’ve pretty much described Jared."

I see that he and Kat (Gibson) are really happy. I felt like what happened with that situation with Chanse (Corbi) and Kat, that really kind of shifted my look on him anyway. So after that I wasn't really as interested. I was like, "You all go enjoy yourselves out on your day bed."

It was kind of tough going in because I don't know that there was one person that I was like, "Yes, that's a bit of me. That's exactly who I want to go for." So it was interesting walking in that first day, especially because Joel was exactly what I said I wasn't going to go for.

Yeah, they really kind of screwed the pooch on that one. And the producers are like, "Oh, but, like, he's your type." I was like, "No, he's not, you guys."

The two single guys, like, single-ish guys, were the ones that got eliminated right before I came in. I knew, though, that Chad, personality-wise, was someone that I was going to connect with. I just wasn't sure that the physical attraction was there. I find him attractive, but I wasn't necessarily attracted to him on a physical level. On an emotional and spiritual level, yes. Like, we had really wonderful conversations, but yeah, it just didn't really align with anybody.

I had a strategy going in, but I had to sort of throw that out the window because of the way that everything shifted. I mean, what an epic dumping right before I go in.

'It looks like you guys cast Connor's cousin'

Q: I'm glad you were able to catch up on that dumping before you went in.

A: I wasn't able to. They told me that morning! So the last thing that I had seen — because it was a weekend (when) everything was happening — the last thing that I had seen was Joel walking in. The producers (were) looking at me and they're, like, expecting me to be like, so excited. I'm like, "Are you guys kidding me? Like, is this a joke? It looks like you guys cast Connor's cousin."

And then the morning before I walked in, like, literally, I walked in, and they were like, "So, you know, Bella and Chazz (Bryant) and Chanse and Jared got dumped, and then Kat went after Jared." And I'm like, wow. So five people left last night.

I think the biggest thing I didn't anticipate was the fact that there wouldn't be more bombshells. I didn't think that Joel would be the last guy, because typically there's much more bombshells after Casa (Amor). … So to only have two, including me, was unexpected, to say the least.

Even though, from a romantic perspective with the male islanders, it didn't work out very well for me, I do think that when it came to the female friendships, the way that things panned out, I was kind of in the best situation possible to connect with the girls and have that opportunity to form those bonds and connections, which are probably, if we're honest, like, the most likely to last, especially considering how close I am still to the girls from my season.

Q&A: Mackenzie spills on her entire "Love Island" Season 2 experience

Walking in on Phoebe and Chad was an accident

Q: America saw it. I saw it. We were all cringing. Do you mind walking me through when you walked into dressing room and encountered Phoebe and Chad?

A: I had no idea what was happening. And when people ask me about it, I almost even forgot it happened. It seems so insignificant to me just because that wasn't the first time that I had been told that Phoebe and Chad were, like, sneaking off to kiss. Because the night of the recoupling, Chad told me that Phoebe kissed him.

So it just wasn't that shocking to me. And I know that that was kind of like TV masterpiece of me just coincidentally walking in. It literally was an accident. I just wanted to check my lip gloss.

Seeing how sexual it was on TV, that was a little surprising. I didn't know it was like that. I thought it was like a peck. But either way, you know, power to them. I suppose I should care more, but believe it or not, America, I'm really not a jealous person. I know what I have to offer. And if someone wants to go shop somewhere else, then don't let the door hit you on the way out.

I don't feel like Chad — as much as I love him — was being very upfront about what was going on between them and how much, like, passion there was in that sense. I don't know that he was denying it. I just don't think that he was being upfront about it. … I think there's a difference.

I think it was just surprising in that way because I don't think I looked at them like that. But I mean, I think that's more of what he wants. And I think potentially that's why, you know, we realized we really weren't feeling each other, because it wasn't like that for us.

Here's whom Mackenzie would vote for to win 'Love Island'

Q: Now that you have an insider perspective, who do you think should get the public vote at the finale?

A: I think my perspective changed the most about Timmy (Pandolfi) and Zeta and Jesse (Bray) and Deb being in the villa. I think that I saw a very different side to their relationship, not in a negative way. Like, I do think that they have a very strong bond.

But I mean, those people are the ones that I was probably the closest to. I would vote for all of them to, be quite fair, like I really would. I'm so happy to cheer them on from out here.

I would just say, like, I think America will be really excited and surprised to see just how genuine and real these connections are when they get on the outside and are able to see these couples in real life.

Reach Entertainment Reporter KiMi Robinson at kimi.robinson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @kimirobin and Instagram @ReporterKiMi.

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