In reality dating shows like Love Island, contestants must navigate complex social dynamics where unwritten rules and etiquette vary by season, and strategic communication is essential for success; contestants often face double standards where similar behaviors are judged differently based on gender or social context, requiring careful navigation of both in-game interactions and post-show public perception.
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Deep Dive
Kenzie Defends Her Love Island Game | Digging Deeper
Added:Welcome to Game of Roses. This is Pace Case.
>> This is Bachelor Clues. If you're listening to this on a Monday, then it's a Monday.
That means this is Digging Deeper.
See what I've done?
>> And it's daylight savings time.
>> Oh, did it flip?
It flips this weekend.
>> No, that's just a Love Island ref.
>> Oh.
>> Hot ref off the presses.
>> Okay.
>> Didn't hit.
>> Scobby, as soon as I come in here and hit record, he like hears the camera and then he marches in here cuz he wants to be let out this back door.
>> You're sincere and you're a Melanie.
>> Scobby, come here.
All right.
Scobby.
I got him.
>> [laughter] >> Don't play his games, Clues.
>> No, he's playing my little game now.
>> Oh, he got too slow.
>> Scobby, look at him. Look at this boy.
>> He's so cute. He's a cartoon.
>> Oh, no.
>> He's so soft and fluffy.
>> Yeah.
>> Oh, no. We just see your nose bleeding, gushing blood during this.
>> No, he's fine.
>> He's no killer.
>> All right, sorry. That was a That's our opening to Digging Deeper. We have a lot of clips for you here today.
We got five clips from Call Her Daddy with a very special guest. You might know her as Kenzi. We got a clip from People um where we kind of learn what players might have been told about Alana leaving the villa.
>> Mhm.
>> We've got a clip from Smith Sisters Live where Jen is talking about Zach and Kayto. We have a clip from Access Hollywood where Jen is talking to Gabriel.
We got a clip from Harry Jowsey's podcast Boyfriend Material promoting his new show coming up. Great. We have a clip from It's Been a Minute where they're talking about Love Island as a sport and we got a clip from Viewer Discretion where they are also talking about Love Island fans being sports fans. Seems like it only took 7 years of us doing this podcast We >> needed the show to catch up to us.
>> That's right. Let's begin. This is our first clip. Kenzie on The Bachelor and dating multiple people. Here we go.
>> What?
>> I know. Yes.
>> So, this was essentially the first love triangle you experienced not only in the villa but in your life. Um you said, "I'm a one person kind of girl. I'm confused as [ __ ] right now." What do you think is the most [laughter] difficult part of managing these two connections at once?
>> Um probably just like stepping on other people's toes in the villa. There's other girls there that also want to explore them as well. Um not knowing like what I can and can't say to either of them. It's like It's kind of weird. I grew up watching The Bachelor. Like Like what? He says I love you to how many?
Three girls and I can't talk about my family. It's kind of wild. Like I'm on a Love Island dating show. Am I supposed to be having conversations with other guys? I don't know. Like it It's confusing and it's so hard cuz I'm like, "I'll be kissing Caleb and yeah, it's a great kiss but I have a great connection with this other guy." And that's why it was so hard for me. I'm like, "My mind can't compute." I'm like, "Uh."
>> Well, it is so I agree with you, Kenzie, cuz what's so weird is I'm also watching UK right now. And like everyone's talking about being at home. Like everyone's like, "This is what it would be and this is my mom." And they're saying that to multiple of their connections. So, I also feel like a lot of it is dependent on the cast per season. Kind of shapes the etiquette around what's appropriate.
>> Yeah, cuz like the season right before that was nothing like this season.
>> Nothing.
>> Wow, we We got a student of the game. Kenzie.
>> Lot to unpack in that clip. I grew up watching The Bachelor. So, she understands the game of all of the love shows. Bachelor is the genesis of all of them. All the modern ones anyway.
It's uh the framework on which all of these other shows are built. Love Island is simply Bachelor in Paradise re-skinned.
Done a lot better, though.
>> she referenced the Bachelor. And it's like a 4 TRR self-defense, too.
>> Yeah.
>> Like the Bachelor is even more 4 TRR than Love Island, and they say I love you to three.
>> Exactly. But she >> Although they they do get into one.
>> It's a different game. But what um Alex Cooper there brings up that it's kind of like cast-dependent, and they even say like yeah, last season was nothing like this. Um we just did a very interesting interview that will be coming out during our uh break. And in that interview, somebody who is a high-level expert on Love Island is essentially telling us that they they kind of cast for different things each season. If they want a friends-to-lovers, if they want like a hardcore dynamic duo friend play, whatever. And that every season kind of has its own identity in terms of like how the relationships are formed and how the friendships are formed and all this kind of stuff. So it's interesting that she >> Sorry.
>> No, go ahead.
>> The way that the unwritten rules get written in Love Island is like needs its own dissertation. Like [laughter] the way that breakfast has evolved. In UK, they're still it's only coffee pretty much is like the standard. And not even everyone does it. The person who was voted UK's favorite like refuses to make his partner coffee.
>> There's [laughter] such a simple thing that they could be doing on Love Island with the breakfast, which is every season you just have had one new machine into the kitchen and you see if they discover how to use it. You know what I mean? Now there's an [clears throat] air fryer in there. Now there's uh give them like a mixer.
>> a hibachi style. I mean, I want to see within three or four seasons, I want to see people making like four-tier cakes, uh you know, breakfast croissants light and flaky. I want to see some like expert-level cheffery. Yeah, why not?
>> I I think that's fun and then you're like developing a skill in there kind of like when you're in prison and you can have access to the >> it and you're dominating. If cheffery, if cooking, if creating the food is part of the narrative, which it is at this point, >> Mhm.
>> you can elevate that narrative obviously and players can train specifically for it before they come in.
>> [snorts] >> It elevates the narrative but it also elevates your second audience game in a similar way that like old school Survivor did where it's like, "Oh, if you're cooking for everyone all the time, no one's going to vote you out."
>> Bachelor's like this, too.
>> You make the best food.
>> The person who's like cooking for you in the house or even on night one if somebody comes in with like some kind of food that they then share with everybody. I forget people have come in with pizza, chicken nuggets.
Obviously, remember Cam Ayala came with his chicken nuggets and did his weird chicken nugget ritual.
>> Mhm.
>> The idea of like giving >> [laughter] >> What's that?
>> Who could forget?
>> I can't forget that.
>> Always be chicken nuggeting.
>> Yeah. Um but the idea of that is is obviously like yes, people like if you can make a good food. Everybody likes good food. All right, let's move on to our next clip. [laughter] This comes >> You on Love Island, you just like force everyone to eat your grill. You're like, "Well, I put everything in the grill so it's either this or nothing."
>> Yeah. Okay, everybody, we're getting healthy. I'm going to reduce your likelihood of cancer recursion by 72%.
I've never had cancer. You'll have it, trust me.
>> [laughter] >> You already do. It's in your body.
>> [gasps] >> I mean, past age 30, yes, everyone has cancer.
Sorry to break it to you.
You're just waiting for a micro tumor.
You're just waiting [laughter] for the circumstances to arise that allow a micro tumor to grow into an actual tumor. Sometimes it never happens. Some people have bodies are riddled with micro tumors that never become full tumors.
>> Mhm. That could be you. [snorts] >> That's why they call me the Riddler.
>> [laughter] >> Absolutely riddled with innocuous [ __ ] >> Yeah, aren't we all?
>> What?
>> [laughter] >> Our second clip is Call Her Daddy once again. This is Kenzie defending her kiss is like a handshake line. Here we go.
>> Yes, double down.
>> Earlier on, I remember you told Naya you were worried Corbin had fuckboy behavior.
>> Yeah.
>> But it was like a gut thing. What do you think you were picking up on?
>> Um probably like his swag kind of and his nonchalantness of just And then and then I heard about the kisses and I was like Mhm.
Mhm. I I should have taken it more with a grain of salt than I did, but I'm like, hey wait, that this is Love Island. Like [ __ ] I'm like a hang >> [laughter] >> So like a kiss is like a handshake for me and so it's like, this is Love Island, babe. Like and you just got here, so I'm not going to fault you for that.
>> That's fair. Do you think you were shocked by how many people were in shock when you said that you thought that a kiss was like a handshake?
>> Yeah, like okay, clearly I'm not going to do that outside of here. Like it's not it's not like that, but when you I'm on a [ __ ] dating show. We kiss in challenges. What's the [ __ ] difference if I'm if I'm [ __ ] Like what is it Like come on now.
>> That's fair.
>> Oh [laughter] my god, this is not the energy I was expecting.
>> Me either.
>> Wowee.
>> [laughter] >> Yeah, she's uh she's coming in hot.
>> I I can't imagine that casting person sitting her down for the first time and she's like just spitting her stuff and you're like >> Yeah, you're like, she must be on television. Don't know how this is going to go. Must be on television. And she can do the splits.
Um it's interesting that she's here kind of defending this kiss is like a handshake thing, which in my opinion is in direct opposition to all of her accusations of lustfulness that she was throwing every which way during the course of the season.
>> I really hope we're going to get to a discussion of lustfulness, but I feel like Alex is not going to ask about it.
>> [laughter] >> Especially if we're going to say the F-word.
>> What the [ __ ] were you thinking, Kenzie?
>> dating show. What the [ __ ] are you supposed to do?
>> Woah.
>> not close to her accent.
>> not another clip. That was clues.
>> Yeah, that was not Kenzie.
Um but the it seems like she's trying to do on this podcast, obviously, a little bit of like cleaning up or defending herself.
Uh a little bit of damage control for some of the villain edit that she got over the course of the season. So far, I don't know if I'm if that's working.
>> I feel like she's kind of doubling down on on some of it and and I'm also [laughter] like, wait, a kiss is like a handshake, but you only mean that for in-game? I thought that meant like outside as well.
>> [gasps] >> But not only in-game, she even then kind of further tried to distill it down to challenges.
>> Right.
>> But many of the kisses I think she >> Yeah, but many of the kisses I think she was referring to happened outside of the challenges.
>> Yeah.
>> kiss that she had with um Gall >> when she was with >> Jaden, Caden, Corbin, Caleb >> kiss >> Right, but that kiss was way outside of a challenge, obviously. That is what made um uh Caleb get pissed at her, right?
>> Dylan?
>> Dylan, sorry. Jesus Christ. Yeah, and so [laughter] >> They All their names are just like these [ __ ] They're all the same. [gasps] Dylan, Billen, Caylen, Caleb, Jaden, Jason, Dayva, Zason >> Billen, there's a name.
>> Billion?
Um >> Billion dollar baby >> Billion dollar baby, that >> [laughter] >> will definitely be something in the future, a movie or TV show.
But um to see her kind of like do this this staunch defense of her play >> Mhm.
>> I do think there's some hypocrisy in her play.
Per what we were talking about, there's the >> Yeah.
>> lustfulness, there's the kisses like a handshake. Well, is that what you think or do you think it's lustful? There's if you're kissing >> is in the eye of the beholder. For you, something else can be lustful.
>> Even if it's exactly >> that's not lustful, but for her, it's just grand expression.
>> Right. It's healthy. It's something you have to do to keep in shape.
>> the emotions out of your body through the um you know, portal.
>> oral region.
All right, let's move on. Clip number three, still Kenzie, still Call Her Daddy. In this clip, Kenzie's talking about her friendship with Sol, saying how hard it was for her in the villa.
Here we go.
>> Why do you think the girls were holding you to a different standard?
I don't know why the girls were holding me to a different standard than Sincere.
It especially like after getting out, it does feel like sexist almost cuz I'm like I'm not a male and it's like I can't move like them, maybe. And I don't know.
Yeah, it felt it was hard. I didn't feel that um supported at that time except from like Jaden.
>> Did you feel like cuz I I can imagine Kenzie, like you're blindsided again not only because they're treating you that way they're supporting Sincere who is doing 10 times worse than you. Like do you feel like that impacted your friendships for a little bit?
>> Yeah, probably a little bit. Just when you don't feel as supported as you want to feel from your friends, but we did get over it and we talked about it, but yeah, definitely hurt.
>> I'm not exactly sure what she's talking about. What When were Were supporting Sincere but not supporting her?
>> I think they're talking about now. Like they have forgiven him.
>> I see. Cuz I was like from my memory, Melanie stood up and screamed in Sincere's face.
>> A lot.
>> Yeah, so that happened multiple times throughout the season. And I'm like, is there a double standard? Like they basically just told Kenzie like, "Yeah, you don't look good." But they were like yelling at Sincere, or at least Melanie was.
>> Mhm.
>> Um So, I don't know. I'm not quite sure what this is discussing.
>> It makes me think that there's some holdover that they're like still not cool with her. And like from my memory, I'm like I feel like it had more to do with telling people you're going to be having conversations or whatever.
>> Mhm.
>> I don't know. Like the That is a really hard thing to navigate in this game, especially now learning that the producers like heavily control who's having what conversations.
>> Yeah.
>> But like to be able to warn the person's partner before you're going to have a flirtatious conversation with someone.
>> Yeah.
>> And like Yeah, this this ever amorphous etiquette.
Um that it seems like yeah, every season is different. People will say you're not for Tiarra or if you're not exploring, or they'll say you're for Tiarra if you are exploring.
>> Yeah, obviously you can >> Yeah, especially if you're in one of the groups that has voting power and you're trying to get somebody off the show for whatever personal reasons, you can use that exact thing. Whether you explore or don't, you can use either one as a positive or a negative to vote somebody out.
>> connection or they haven't had a chance to find their person.
>> They just came in and locked off immediately. That's not what Love Island's about. Or they've been bouncing around from player to player and still not found a strong connection. They got to get the [ __ ] out of here.
>> Yeah, exactly. But from my memory Kenzie and Sincere behaved relatively similarly except for one major thing which was Sincere was lying to everyone always. That was like to me the biggest piece [laughter] of it.
You know, she wasn't [gasps] doing that.
>> She lied by omission about the Corbin kiss, but that's it as >> Yeah.
>> far as we saw lying in the document, but Sincere we see lying straight to people's faces constantly. [laughter] >> And then the and the dual beloveds >> Every single conversation.
>> which is also a pretty bad transgression that Kenzie never took part in. I mean, I don't Sincere was a bad player. Obviously, anything's admissible in the game. You go in there, you have your strategies whether you're making them up on the fly or you've got them pre-written or whatever. You go in there and you play your game.
Uh I don't think Kenzie and Sincere's games were that dissimilar at least in the kind of beginning phase until everybody was all egged, but the the big piece of it like I'm saying which I think is the most important piece is we have on camera Sincere directly lying to everyone he's involved with using the same terms of affection for multiple people simultaneously. Like his game was way worse clearly.
>> Yeah. Saying that he wasn't going to kiss Sole going and kissing Sole immediately.
Um it's almost like Sincere has saved face by like his first audience game being so good that he just had Melanie there to back him and always be there. Like if Kenzie had had a supportive partner who was also friends with everyone the whole time.
Like would that have affected how they saw it? I don't know.
>> I don't either. Um >> messy game. It's great.
>> Yeah, we have another clip to this end right here um that is talking about Kenzie is talking about the double standards between how the women treated her versus Sincere.
Um I think unless this is the clip we just watched.
Maybe we've got I think these clips might have been reversed but let's see what this might be them talking about Soul. Let's see what this clip is. Here we go.
>> And a video started circulating from Soul's live stream.
>> Yeah.
>> Babe, someone's talking about Melanie in the background. We hear something along the lines of it was always the Melanie show. Some Anyone who was close to her got to stay. Like it sounded like light [ __ ] talking. There was speculation at first it was you, then there was speculation it was Jaden.
Tell us what happened, Kenzie.
>> Me and Jaden were definitely like talking about them but not in an awful way. Like I [ __ ] love Melanie and I'm going to stand by her. Um, she definitely I feel like we were just saying she did did get a lot more screen time than a lot of other people who were in couples that like wanted to talk but there was never any [ __ ] talking about her. I would never talk [ __ ] about my girl and Jaden likes her as well. So.
>> Do you think that people are going to think that you got like that's like oh you guys are jealous cuz she just got screen time?
>> Um.
I mean they can think that. That's fine but that's that's what we were like talking about. So.
>> So you were just talking about how she got more attention basically.
>> Have you seen all of the brands being like we will literally give you a year supply of this or we'll give you a car or we'll give you free whatever if you leave Sincere?
>> No.
>> Oh man, you need to open your phone.
Um.
>> Oh my god.
>> No, it's a lot, Kenzie. It's a lot.
>> Um.
>> [laughter] >> Interesting.
>> Is it possible that Kenzie doesn't know this?
>> I don't know. Like I don't know when they shot this.
>> reaction but >> Yeah, I'm not sure when they shot this.
Um.
>> [snorts] >> The the idea though like she mentions in here that that Melanie got more screen time.
>> Mhm.
>> Does that mean she's watched the whole season by now?
How does she know that?
>> I thought this interview just was shot.
Like this week.
>> So, she's she binged the whole season in whatever, not even a week?
>> Oh.
>> 5 days?
>> Maybe she's seen stats.
Pop culture data.
>> Yeah, maybe. [laughter] I don't know.
That's pretty wild to me, though. But, I mean, that is something I think about constantly, especially with a show like this, where it's 30 [ __ ] episodes.
It's like, do these players watch back the whole season? Or are they at this point too inundated with like, "Oh, my social media's popping off. I got to do these brand deals. We got to do these interviews."
>> She's at least binged some of it.
>> Mhm.
>> Don't you think?
>> Yes. I think for sure she has watched like her the angry splits, you know, like she's watched her big important moments, for sure. But, like, to know that Melanie has more screen time than her seems like >> Yeah.
>> She has to watch the whole season. Or at least she's getting that impression from whatever she's watching. I don't know.
>> Or from what people are talking about online. I love the open discussion of screen time, though. It's like, wait, are people going on for love or do they want more screen time? What do you mean?
>> Exactly. The it's always implied in everything they say. Like, I I wouldn't like, technically that is open gameplay speech, but it's a little hidden. It's a little couched in the idea of favoritism of the producers or something like this, or that there was some kind of a double standard, that she didn't get her love stories didn't get as much time on screen as Melanie's, you know. It it's kind of couched in that. But, it's like an awareness of it means you are clocking that at a game level. And that that may be more important to you than whatever else happened within the the context of the relationships, you know.
>> It's at least not unimportant to you.
You >> [laughter] >> Yeah, exactly.
>> Yeah.
It's interesting.
>> All right, we >> God, it's wild to see Kenzie like in the wild. Just this uh >> chaotic play style outside the villa as well.
>> Yeah, well, she's also a little like uh unchained, you know, unfettered.
I think like what and I >> [sighs] >> I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think Zach probably isn't as bad of a No, he is a bad player. But, I think like in in reflecting on it in his play style and stuff, I think he was like nervous in front of the cameras. That's what comes across to me. He never wanted to make any kind of like a declarative claim, either a you're my girlfriend or an I love you or any of that [ __ ] He was so afraid of doing that because I think he was worried about like the the public perception of it. I think the cameras really hindered his game in retrospect.
What's that?
>> The public.
>> Yeah, the US.
>> I like [snorts] after uh interview that we did, hearing that the producers thought Zach was going to be a favorite and like the star of the show, like that makes more sense to me. Like he was just more nervous and cautious and not as good a player as the producers originally thought casting him.
>> Especially cuz you saw like the very early dumping of Kenzie when they were first together. I think he was like, I can't lead anyone on that I know people get [ __ ] villainized for that. I'm sure his brother told him all about like don't do that. You got to [ __ ] mind your P's and Q's. And so he was >> And it was it was a mistake he was instantly called out on like saying I don't go for blondes.
>> Yeah, exactly. But, I think he was using that as like a like just to let you know, I'm not leading you on. I don't go for your type. We can engage in this like coupling or whatever to stay to the next round of the game, but you're not my type. I will be dumping you. That's basically what I think he was trying to do. Then over the course of his entire game, never committing to anything with Katie.
>> I mean, she committed to exclusivity.
>> [laughter] >> When no one else was left, yeah.
>> Yep.
>> You're You're like aliens come down and they [ __ ] melt everybody on planet Earth except for you and Katie and you're like, "Okay, I'm not saying we're boyfriend and girlfriend, but I will say we can exclusively [laughter] date."
>> [gasps] >> That's cuz there's no other humans on planet Earth.
>> like you said, starting the diet when your fridge is empty.
>> Yeah, exactly. Um all right, let's move on. We have another clip here from Kenzie and Call Her Daddy. I'm not sure what this one is.
I believe it's talking about post villa drama. We'll see. Here we go.
>> Okay, hold on. So, what would your ideal role play situation be?
Mhm, probably being handcuffed and then blindfolded and then like that paint.
Oh, [ __ ] That turns you on. Any Is slime? I understand why they do it now.
I understand. I'm like, okay.
>> You're You're getting You're getting turned on in challenges.
>> Yes.
>> Oh, that's so interesting.
>> Yeah, and you're like so sober. It's crazy, but like it's so fun. I'm like, okay, I'm going to be crazy.
Turned on AS [ __ ] LIKE >> [laughter] >> WOO!
>> [laughter] >> IF YOU WANT TO HEAR OUR REACTION to Kenzie claiming she's turned on by the goo in challenges and our reactions to all the rest of the clips in this digging deeper of which there are [laughter and gasps] some doozies, all you got to do is go to patreon.com/gameofroses.
You're going to get access to the rest of this episode, all of our digging deepers, all of our pace case follow-ups, all of our clues corners, all of our cosmic gores, back catalog, ad-free episodes, access to our discord where you can upload your screams, whatever else is going on in there.
There's a bunch of [ __ ] always popping off. So, please join us in the bottom of the pit.
>> patreon.com/gameofroses >> Please rate this podcast. [singing] Please review this [music] podcast.
Please get a friend to listen to us [music] and then please rate this podcast.
Please review this podcast.
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