Hagerstown man not taking anything for granted after 'Love Island USA'

FIJI — Wayne County residents have been getting on television a lot recently.

First, it was Cambridge City's Dougherty Orchard featured on TLC's 90 Day Fiance.

Then, it was Richmond waitress Amari Scott Keys earning her golden ticket to Hollywood on ABC's American Idol.

Now, a Hagerstown native recently found himself in the spotlight trying to find love on Peacock.

Jalen Oliver, who graduated from Hagerstown High School in 2018, appeared as one of the residents in Casa Amor for season 6 of Love Island USA.

Oliver's appearance on the show was two years in the making, as he first applied in August in 2022, but by the time the casting director had got ahold of him in early 2023, he was already in a relationship.

"Obviously for me, of course I'm not going to go on Love Island if I'm in a relationship," Oliver said in a Zoom interview. "My relationship ended in November of 2023, and I was like 'OK, hey, why not give it another shot?'"

So Oliver did.

He reached back out to the original casting director who had initially approved him this past January, and then according to him, things kind of took off.

"There's so much that led up to it, but it's like a once in a lifetime experience," he said. "So it's definitely all worth it.

What is Love Island USA?

"Love Island USA" follows Islanders who couple up to participate in games and challenges throughout their stay at the villa. Temptations and drama break up couples as bombshells arrive and connections are threatened. Contestants may recouple with someone new, and they can be eliminated by viewer votes.

In the end, one winning couple walks away with a prize of $100,000 jointly or $50,000 each.

They might also depart with their true love, but that isn't always the case as things get very messy and relationships are tested.

"Love Island is real time," Oliver said. "What you see is probably something that happened yesterday or maybe the day before, but everything's up to date. If you're not coupled up, your time on love Island is on the line. Sometimes they will give you extra time to try to make a connection before you get booted off, but if you're not coupled up, it's definitely something that's not a good thing."

What is Casa Amor?

Oliver appeared on day 17 as part of what the show considers "infamous" to its franchise, Casa Amor.

By Oliver's description, Casa Amor is a separate villa from the initial cast where six different men and women take up residence.

The initial cast can then exit the main villa to go to Casa Amor, while the other half of the couple stays in the main villa, similar to another one of USA Network's shows, Temptation Island.

While in Casa Amor, the original cast have four days to mingle with the new islanders to see if they have a better match than their initial one, and can choose to stay with their original partner or recouple.

Those who aren't coupled up by the end of the four days at Casa Amor are then sent home.

Dumped on Day 20

Unfortunately for Oliver, his time on the show didn't last long as he failed to couple up.

"When I arrived day one, it was so it's so surreal, it felt like a dream," Oliver said. "Honestly, I went in there seeing people that have been on TV. I don't want to say starstruck but it's just crazy seeing them in person."

Oliver said he spent the first day trying to read the room and wasn't really talkative with others as he likes to observe people before he started talking to them.

"Going in, I knew I want to stay true to myself," he said. "There's a girl named Liv on the show who was single and just because she was single, I didn't want to try to connect with her if that connection wasn't there. I didn't want to force something that wasn't there. That being said, I had a conversation with her. She was cool, she's more so like a friend. It wasn't anything on a romantic level."

Oliver added that he got to know Kaylor a lot, and although he knew the odds were against him due to her being in one of the strongest couples, it all went back to staying true to himself.

Off camera, Oliver revealed that "stuff definitely happened" during the Raunchy Races challenge where viewers would have a mass reaction, but wasn't sure if it was PG-13 to explain.

"Another thing that I can talk about is that Taylor and I would have our separate conversations away from everybody else and that's when we really got to truly know each other and get an understanding for one another," he said. "She had told me that if I was in the villa before Aaron was there that she definitely could have seen sparks flying and stuff like that with me."

'Not taking anything for granted'

Oliver hasn't always been the most secure in himself, and five years ago, he may have never seen himself on a show like Love Island USA.

That was because of surgical scarring on his head as a result of three different brain surgeries he had due to having a cyst.

The cyst has been gone since his sophomore year of high school, 13 years after hospital visits.

"Growing up, I constantly had like, long curly hair everywhere just because I didn't want anybody see it," he said. "...At the same time, I understand that everything happens for a reason and it's a part of me. People can always have it worse and I could have been born deaf or blind, so I can't complain with my life."

As a result of living much of his life with a cyst, Oliver has learned not to take anything for granted.

"[Jesus] and I did the interview, and it was just eye opening in a way like to be comfortable with who you are and like to love yourself regardless," he said. "That being said. I finally decided to cut the curls off. ...I'm blessed to be where I'm at today and I wouldn't change a thing."

Life hasn't changed much since show aired

Coming home from the show, Oliver's lifestyle and personality haven't changed much.

He goes to the gym every day and plays basketball with his friends. He spent last weekend going out to the bar with his friends, a common occurrence with him as he considers himself an outgoing person.

Oliver debunked an article from a separate publication stating that he is taking college classes at Hanover College, instead saying he's taking all of his classes online through Indiana University East as he's going for a degree in business administration.

He also said that he was supposed to move to Indianapolis a few months ago, but has not yet due to a situation involving one of his friends. He plans on moving within the next couple weeks.

What has changed is the attention he has gotten from the show.

"My phone has been going crazy nonstop, and I was only there for a short amount of time, which is kind of surreal." he said. "I'm not one that fuels off attention and like I said, I like being true to who I am."

As far as a future career in reality television, who knows?

"This was like a very eye-opening experience for me," he said. "I would love the chances coming back for season seven of Love Island USA if the opportunity presents itself. I've really liked the idea of doing reality TV and kind of seeing where that takes me. But that's Plan A. I have Plan B of getting my degree and finding a career just in case if it doesn't work out that way. I'm not going to put all my eggs in one basket."

Evan Weaver is a news and sports reporter at The Palladium-Item. Contact him on X (@evan_weaver7) or email ateweaver@gannett.com. Dina Kaur, a reporter at the Arizona Republic, contributed to this story. She can be reached at dina.kaur@arizonarepublic.com or @dina_kaur on X.