Over the summer, Olandria Carthen and Nic Vansteenberghe, also known as Nicolandria, became a fan favorite on “Love Island.” Despite winning second place in the reality dating show, Nicolandria, particularly Olandria, earned the first-place spot in fans’ hearts.
And now the couple is rounding out a year of campaigns as Glamour magazine’s latest cover stars. In addition to serving romantic holiday vibes, the” Love Island” couple is reflecting on a whirlwind year that’s brought both opportunities and unexpected challenges. Their journey from islanders to influencers has been anything but smooth, marked by intense scrutiny, mental health struggles, and the difficult task of setting boundaries with an audience that feels entitled to every detail of their lives.
“It was kind of hard at first. These are the people that met us through a TV screen and watched us every single day for six weeks at a time. They’re hungry for more. We felt obligated to let them in, still, in the beginning,” Olandria told Glamour. “[Nic] was the Nicolandria updater, literally, because I was so shook up and just not really friendly with the internet at that time. They would get all the updates from his Snapchat account—what I’m doing, what we’re up to. They were so used to seeing us on the screen and they loved us so much. It was like, ‘We have to keep giving them content.’”
But that constant sharing came at a cost, she explained: “Eventually it became mentally draining. People started to nitpick us. They were doing that on the show, but we didn’t have our phones to see it—now that we’re actually having to live with it and hear about it, it’s like, ‘Oh, maybe we don’t need to share as much anymore.’ Because they’ll find the smallest little thing and it’s a big discourse all over social media. I’m like, Where did you get that from? Who did you hear it from? ‘Alright, maybe we need to put some boundaries to try to draw back on how much we decide to share.'”
For Olandria, an HBCU graduate who came from a traditional 9-to-5 job, the adjustment was particularly jarring. Before the show, she admits her goals felt distant and unrealistic. But after leaving the villa and getting her phone back, the reality of overnight fame hit hard. She recalls shutting down under the weight of opinions flooding in from all directions, comparing herself to other islanders who already had management teams in place. In contrast, Nic, who worked as a model before the show, had management and connections that she didn’t.
“I’m not going to lie, because of the weight of the world, the voices, the opinions, and all these crazy things that come with the internet,” she said. “I was literally one of the last islanders to get a team together. But I was so happy that I actually took my foot off the gas to breathe. I interviewed 15 different agencies and management companies. Thank goodness I took that break, because I think my team now is a powerhouse. They all have an amazing vision for me. We move very strategically when it comes to brand deals and things I attend.”
Unlike most islanders turned influencers, Carthen has slowly been making a name for herself in the luxury fashion space, having already made her runway debut during Sergio Hudson’s NYFW show. Beyond their select partnerships and appearances, both Carthen and Vansteenberghe have become more conservative with their posting habits.
“Thank God we’ve got each other, because I don’t know what we would do without each other, literally, when it comes to that […]Because mentally, we were both just drained. We depend on each other to uplift and be there for each other when we’re going through things, but it became draining for both of us. I’m like, ‘I don’t know how to find a happy medium in this life now,’” Carthen explained.
“[It’s] damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” Vansteenberghe added. “It’s also interesting being in the social media space now, people want to be let in, and the more you let in, the monetary gain is nice. So finding that balance of, ‘Okay, this is our work now, but it’s also our life,’ was kind of hard in the beginning, but now I feel like we’ve got a better grip on it. Missing out on some monetary value is so worth it for your mental health.”
