Love Island USA’s TJ Palma Tears Up Hearing Iris Kendall’s Final Message to Him After Shocking Dumping

There’s no love lost between TJ Palma and Iris Kendall, even if they’re no longer in the Love Island USA villa together.

On the July 3 episode, the Peacock series saw its biggest and most dramatic dumping yet as five people went home, including TJ. Casa Amor contestants Jaden Duggar and Gracyn Blackmore, bombshell Andreina Santos and day 1 castmember Austin Shepard were also sent home.

The islanders chose to save Taylor Williams in a dramatic vote following a record-breaking showing from audience members who got to weigh in on their favorite castmembers.

TJ’s exit left Iris single, and broke up one of the few couples who were actually going strong in the villa.

It was an emotional goodbye between the two bombshells, who coupled up with each other again after Casa Amor and had been going strong ever since.

When host Ariana Madix asked TJ, and the other dumped islanders, how they were feeling about the vote, TJ admitted, “It sucks but I’m super grateful, but this is where my journey ends, and I’m just upset that I can’t finish it with her.”

Iris was holding his hand the whole time and crying silently while he spoke.

After his exit, TJ received one last message from Iris, which left him with tears in his eyes.

Every islander who left the villa was given an extra moment to hear some goodbyes from those left on the island, thanks to season 2 alum Cely Vazquez, who shared messages on her “Cely phone” with each of them.

TJ, 23, got a message from Iris, and her candid recollection of their time together left him emotional.

“TJ, I am really gonna miss you. You’ve made my experience here so much better than I ever could’ve thought it would be,” she said.

“Every morning, I was excited to see you, and going to bed with you was amazing,” Iris, 25, continued, and TJ began tearing up.

“Everything that we did together in the short amount of time that we had together was truly amazing and I’m not gonna forget you, so don’t worry,” she said as TJ wiped his eyes. “And I’m really, really grateful to have met such a wonderful guy like you. I had a great time and I’m really gonna miss you.”

When the call ended, he admitted he “didn’t think I was gonna be crying today, to be honest.”

TJ is planning to continue pursuing Iris in the real world, though, and is already thinking about where to bring her on a date.

After hearing the sweet message from Iris, TJ got to catch up with Cely. When she asked how he felt about what Iris had to say, he said he “loved it,” but again, was caught off guard by his emotional response.

“I didn’t think I was gonna shed a tear today, but, it was nice to hear from her,” he said. “She’s f—— amazing.”

TJ also revealed where he’s planning to bring Iris once she’s out of the villa and they’re both back in the U.S.: “Probably the beach. She loves coffee, too, so maybe a coffee spot.”

Though he’s “mad” that his time in the villa was cut short, he confirmed, “We’ll see each other on the outside for sure.”