Nic Vansteenberghe Teases Romance Update 3 Weeks After Olandria Carthen Split

Q: Did Nic and Olandria’s Malibu wedding reunion mean romance is back, or are fans reading too much into one private weekend?

There is no public evidence yet that Nic Vansteenberghe and Olandria Carthen are back together; fans are reading signals, but not getting confirmation. What is clear is that the former Love Island USA runners-up reunited at Jordyn Woods and Karl-Anthony Towns’ Malibu wedding on Aug. 15 and, by Nic’s account, had a great time. Speaking the next day in Las Vegas, he said he would “keep that private for now” when asked if the romance had been rekindled, while adding that they “enjoyed ourselves tremendously.” That matters because the two only confirmed their breakup in late July, roughly a month after reports that distance and busy schedules had strained the relationship. Nic has also said the split was amicable, stressing they “ended on a good note” and can remain friends. His comment that it is “a bit soon” to say he is enjoying single life suggests the breakup is still recent and emotionally fresh. Olandria’s past comments point in the same direction: she has repeatedly said they prefer to keep their relationship off-camera, do not monetize it, and protect it from online overanalysis because it affects her mental health. That makes a private reunion at a wedding especially easy for fans to overinterpret. So the wedding weekend may show they are still close and comfortable together. But until either of them says more, it does not prove romance is officially back.

Q: Why are Nic and Olandria guarding their relationship so closely after Love Island fame—and is privacy the real story here?

They appear to be guarding the relationship because fame turned their romance into public property, and both have signaled that constant scrutiny is something they no longer want to feed. Vansteenberghe’s comments after the wedding were careful but revealing. He would not confirm whether he and Olandria Carthen are back together, saying only that he wanted to “keep that private for now” and that they “enjoyed ourselves tremendously.” That fits with how he handled the breakup in July, when he confirmed it but asked fans to respect their privacy. He also stressed that the split ended amicably, suggesting there is no public drama they feel compelled to explain. Carthen has been even clearer about why privacy matters. In recent remarks, she said they do not monetize the relationship, prefer to keep it “sacred and close,” and that online overanalysis affects her mental health. She has described wanting ordinary time together—movies, date nights, life away from cameras—which is difficult when every appearance becomes evidence in a fan investigation. So yes, privacy is the real story, but not in a vague celebrity way. It is also about control, boundaries, and emotional protection after a reality-TV relationship became a yearlong public storyline. Their reunion at a high-profile wedding naturally fueled speculation, yet their refusal to define it suggests they are trying to decide what the relationship is before the audience does it for them.

3 articles · Updated · E! NEWS · Aug 17

One day after reuniting with Olandria Carthen at Jordyn Woods and Karl-Anthony Towns’ wedding, Nic Vansteenberghe said he is keeping any romance update private for now.
Vansteenberghe, 25, said the pair “enjoyed ourselves tremendously” at the wedding and added exes can stay friends if the relationship ends healthily, saying their breakup ended on a good note.
He stopped short of embracing single life, calling it “a bit soon,” while offering breakup advice that “things will always get better.”
The comments come 3 weeks after Vansteenberghe confirmed on July 26 that he and Carthen had split, while saying they would “continue to love each other always.”