Fans root for Victor from Love Island USA as he bounces back from rejection

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Victor, Love Island USA's longhaired hunk, was not even chosen on day one—and now he's the 'hot commodity' of the villa

LOVE ISLAND -- Episode 501 -- Pictured: Victor Gonzalez, Victor, Love Island USA season 5
(Image credit: Sara Mally/PEACOCK)

For a minute there, it looked like Victor, Love Island USA's hunky Spanish import, would be going the way of his fellow Islander Carsten "Bergie" Bergersen, left sadly unpicked by the villa's pool of lovely ladies. 

During a game of Stick or Twist in the premiere episode of Love Island USA season 5, Victor's foreign accent and Fabio-like locks didn't attract any of the women's attention, leaving him unpaired until he was matched up with Jasmine Sklavanitis by default. That all very much changed on the Thursday, July 20 episode of the series—which airs Thursdays through Tuesdays at 9pm Eastern on Peacock—as Victor slowly but surely turned out to be the prime pick of the Islanders' Fijian villa.

Wednesday's episode welcomed two new female bombshells to the Love Island USA season 5 cast—Carmen Kocourek and Hannah Wright—who were tasked with stealing a boy within the next 24 hours. The pair both had Victor in their sights, which, in turn, seemingly put a spotlight on the Madrid native for the other women in the villa.

"If Victor's in your top two, raise your hand," Vickala "Kay Kay" Gray asked the women on Thursday as they all got ready for the evening. Hands flew, including women who were otherwise happily paired up, like Kassy Castillo. "Victor's a hot commodity!" Kay Kay proclaimed. 

"I like how frank you are, I like how you're sassy," Hannah told Victor during a little one-on-one. "I've been wanting to get to know you." However, Carmen had her own chit-chat with him. "Right now, I'm sharing a bed with Hannah. Love the girl, you know? But I'd be okay sharing a bed with you."

And then, of course, there was Jasmine, who was initially partnered with Victor. "You're a hot commodity, everyone likes you," she told him. "Getting to know you, you're f****** awesome." She ended up asking Victor to "steal a kiss," which he agreed to. 

Indeed, when it came time for host Sarah Hyland to reveal the bombshell twist, it was clear that one of the new women would be choosing Victor to couple up with—but which one, exactly?

Well, as the captain of the winning team during that day's High School Dropout Challenge, Carmen got to choose which fella she'd be stealing: "I would like to steal this boy because they've done such a good job of making me feel special," she told the group. "I've honestly been really surprised by our connection and how much we get along and I'm really excited to get to know them more. So the boy I'd like to steal is Victor."

Hannah ended up selecting Marco, while Jasmine simply sat staring blankly ahead as Carmen came to sit in between her and Victor. 

Fans root on Victor, Love Island USA hunk:

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Christina Izzo
Christina Izzo

Christina Izzo is the Deputy Editor of My Imperfect Life. More generally, she is a writer-editor covering food and drink, travel, lifestyle and culture in New York City. She was previously the Features Editor at Rachael Ray In Season and Reveal, as well as the Food & Drink Editor and chief restaurant critic at Time Out New York. 

When she’s not doing all that, she can probably be found eating cheese somewhere.