A hot new bombshell has entered “The Swamp”.
Nic Vansteenberghe, Love Island Season 7 star, made a special appearance at MacDinton's Irish Pub in Gainesville to greet fans of the hit show. Fans threw phones over the DJ booth to get a specialized cameo video from the Love Island superstar. Nic raised the roof by standing on top of the DJ booth to hype up the crowd, pouring bottles of champagne across the crowd. Many fans held up signs from their phones saying, “Where’s Olandria?”, his current partner, whose love sparked from the series.
After greeting fans around the electrifying music, Nic made his way to the bar to pour up dozens of shots for customers to enjoy free of charge. As he made his rounds along the bar, many fans continued to cheer his name, snap selfies and enjoy seeing him from beyond their screens.
Self-described die-hard fan, Kimberly Francoeur, 40, traveled from Jacksonville to see Nic for the third time. After previously going to meet-and-greets in Miami and Atlanta, Francoeur decided to make another stop. She believes his north central Florida origins make his appeal that much stronger.
“It’s so cool because he lives down the street from where my niece goes to high school,” Francoeur said. “He’s just a nice, genuine guy.”
Francoeur didn’t want Nic to forget her, so she brought him gifts including a hat and bundt cakes for his team. She also created a postcard of old photos from their past encounters. However, there was one gift she wasn’t willing to pull out into the open so that Nic would be the first to see it.
“I made pajamas with Olandria’s face on them for him, and I have one made for Olandria with his face on them,” Francoeur said.
His “Mommy’s Little Meatball” pajama shirt sparked a national craze and increased the popularity of the item. Multiple attendees wore the t-shirt as a reference to the show. Jahnavi Tripathi and Saloni Datta came to the event “twinning” in the iconic attire.
“It’s just an iconic shirt from Love Island: Mommy’s Little Meatball,” Tripathi said.
Nic rose to fame after the success of his season on Love Island USA, the top streaming original show in the U.S. Throughout the season, there was speculation about his love interest with Olandria Carthen, another contestant on the show. Fans created the ship name “Nicolandria” before the pair were “coupled up,” raising the fan craze when they became official towards the end of the season.
Last year, Love Island USA Season 6 star Rob Rausch made an appearance at the same bar for a similar event. Although the two have never met, they were both widely seen as the heartthrobs of their season, including their iconic attire. Rausch inspired a popular Halloween costume in 2024 for his overalls and snake tattoos from his season. Many attendees at this event believe Nic’s stand-out pajamas may have the same effect this upcoming spooky season.
From viral dresswear to devoted fans bearing gifts, Nic’s return to Florida shows his reality TV fame has transformed into something much bigger: a cultural moment with hometown roots.