Love Island USA’s Connor Newsum and Cassidy Laudano ‘Making Some Life Plans’ After Elimination

Love Island USA stars Connor Newsum and Cassidy Laudano ’s time in the villa expired before Casa Amor, but the dumped islanders aren’t done searching for love. Now that the pair are transitioning back into reality, they started to chat and “potentially [started] making some life plans.”

Connor, 28, revealed that he texted Cass, 27, after she got dumped from the villa before Casa Amor, which was shortly after he was eliminated himself.

“We got along really well. We had a lot in common. We had a few conversations that were just really easy and we work in the same career field,” the public relations specialist told Us Weekly on Tuesday, July 3. ​”We just had a lot of similar interests, love for animals. I think everyone saw that weird fishing conversation we had when I was making her grilled cheese. Just random stuff like that. She’s really easy to talk to, she’s gorgeous and just fun to be around.”

Connor and Cass never explored a romantic connection because she chose to couple with Rob Rausch during episode 16. During the recoupling ceremony, Connor was the last man standing by the firepit and was eliminated.

At the time, Connor was partnered with Leah Kateb after previously being paired with JaNa Craig . Things seemed picture-perfect between Leah, 24, and Connor at first, especially after they had their rom-com kiss in the rain. Once they were officially coupled up, Leah got the ick and told mostly everyone – except for Connor. He finally learned where the Calabasas native really stood when she dodged him in the “Stick or Twist” game and chose to be open to other people in the villa.

“I’m still thinking, like, ‘How much of that was legitimate?’” he told the outlet before explaining how their relationship developed after Leah’s split from Rob, 25. “I feel as though, in the beginning, there was mutual interest. When I first came into the villa, Leah and I had a conversation and we expressed mutual interest in each other. And then that just never went anywhere. I became pretty close with Rob and I saw how close Rob and Leah were, and then when that ended, Leah and I went up to each other one day.”

During the recoupling ceremony that sent Connor home, Leah chose to explore her connection with bad boy Miguel Harichi. Now, Connor admits that the boys in the villa warned him about Leah’s intentions toward him.

“She was telling me she was happy and I’m like, ‘Who am I to not listen to the person I’m coupled up with?’” he said.

Meanwhile, Cass chose Rob – which Connor revealed was a hard decision for her.

“She had a tough decision. She was crying when she made the decision,” he recalled. “She barely knew Rob. She barely knew me.”

However, Cass found herself in the same position as Connor two episodes later when she and Rob were voted one of the two least compatible couples by viewers. The Islanders had to choose who to save, and Cass and Nigel Okafor came up short and were sent packing.