‘Love Island USA’s’ Amaya “Papaya” Might Be Canceled Amid Racist and Colorist Allegations

Midway through Love Island USA Season 7, all eyes were on Amaya "Papaya" Espinal. The native New Yorker won over the dating competition's ever-judgy fandom, which was undoubtedly no easy feat. Amaya's quest for finding her person and her charming personality made it easy for most fans to root for her until the end. The fans' support carried her and Bryan Arenales to the finish line, as they were voted as the season's winners during the season finale.

After leaving the villa, Amaya was seemingly set to embark on her tour as reality TV's new "It Girl." However, just two weeks after she and Bryan split their $50,000 grand prize, fans were asking for their votes back after social media posts resurfaced of her possibly supporting MAGA and colorism. Here's the scoop.

Amaya's past resurfaced online in late July 2025. Following the news of another Love Island alum, Kenny Rodriguez, allegedly making racist remarks about his ex and former Love Island contestant, JaNa Craig, during their one-year relationship, fans on X (formerly Twitter) found alleged receipts on Amaya. The screenshots of the old posts showed her liking a photo from Donald Trump and Melania Trump's 2005 wedding. Amaya also allegedly reposted videos of MAGA leaders Elon Musk, Candace Owens, and Robert Kennedy, Jr.

The Peacock breakout hasn't addressed the posts, though that didn't stop fans from expressing their opinions on the matter. While multiple fans felt Amaya should be canceled and held responsible for her alleged actions, others opted to give her a pass, stating she possibly learned from her mistakes, noting that fellow Season 7 contestant Austin Shepard wasn't canceled when posts of him allegedly supporting MAGA surfaced.

"All those reposts have been debunked yet ppl r still choosing to fall for it. Amaya is getting unfollowed yet #those other men are walking freely," one fan wrote on X.

"Y'all want me to cancel Amaya but you support Nic," another said, referring to Nic Vansteenberghe, who was one of the final couples with Olandria Carthen.

"Omgggg now Amaya.. they tryna get us canceled before the Dominican parade," a third user joked.

In addition to Amaya allegedly liking several MAGA posts between 2024 and 2025, she was also accused of being colorist due to a resurfaced Facebook post from 2014. She reportedly shared the post, though she wasn't its creator. The share included a stereotype-driven breakdown of the differences between light-skinned, brown-skinned, and dark-skinned women.

The light-skinned women received multiple positive attributes, while the dark-skinned women were accused of "always using filters to make them lighter" and of doing "anything to get money."

After seeing Amaya's alleged posts, some of her Papayas (fans) have urged others to reconsider canceling her over the content. Several commenters in the Love Island US Facebook fan page claimed the post was edited and may not even be from Amaya's real page. While that could be the case, if the post was hers, even more fans of hers don't believe she should be canceled for a choice she allegedly made in her teens.

"Yall get on my nerves," a user in the fan page posted. "An 8th grader(Amaya) shared a post about SOMEONE ELSE’S female critique about skin tones now she is cancelled??? Seriously???? She could have shared that meaning like “look at this s--t” type of share. Y'all would have hated me at 14 for the stuff I said and did."

Much like the MAGA posts, Amaya didn't share her side of the colorist repost. The calls for her to be canceled came the same week rumors swirled that she and Bryan broke up after leaving the villa, which also hasn't been confirmed at the time of publishing.