For Glamour Magazine’s December issue, Nicolandria takes center stage in a way that feels intimate, festive, and deeply earned. Olandria Carthen and Nick Vansteenberghe grace the cover facing each other, wrapped tightly in one another’s embrace. Vansteenberghe grips her waist as she locks eyes with her. Carthen cradles his face and stares right back, the two dressed in holiday sweaters that give off effortless modern-love-story energy. It reads like the kind of holiday card people save and put on their refrigerators; warm, romantic, and real.

Their connection was not instant when they first met on Love Island. The path to one another unfolded slowly, with both experiencing different couplings before fate circled them back together during the emotional chaos of Casa Amor. What was meant to be an exit from the villa became a turning point, with both narrowly avoiding being dumped from the island. The timing was messy, the emotions were high, and yet the pull between them never disappeared. While Nicolandria did not win Love Island, their post-villa reality says everything that needs to be said.

When asked what she hoped to gain from the experience, Cathen was honest about her intentions. “I was hoping I’d find love and go there for my actual person. In season six, you got a few couples that came out with actual partners, and they’re doing life together. That’s kind of beautiful. Me, being single for five years, I was like, ‘Well, the dating pool in Houston fucking sucks. Let me try my luck.’”

She then began opening up about how difficult it was to do so on television. “Going on TV is kind of scary, because people are going to see you in your vulnerable state, and you don’t know how things are going to work out,” she shared. “While you’re there, you don’t have your phone, you don’t know the time, you don’t have access to the outside world. At some point, I literally would forget I was on the show and that we were being filmed. I wasn’t thinking about, ‘Oh, what are people thinking about me? Am I popular?’ I was there for this purpose of finding love.”

Vansteenberghe entered the villa with a different mindset but an open heart. “I didn’t really know what the show was prior to going on,” he said. “It got brought up to me, and I was like, ‘Okay, pretty girls in a villa in Fiji.’ Honestly, at that time in my life, I was very in the present, not really thinking too much about the future. I just went on the show to have a good time. I did. I had a great time. And now everything that came from it is so beautiful and amazing.”

Outside the villa, Carthen faced public scrutiny and think pieces questioning her character. She chose to move forward on her own terms. “That’s been the most fun part, taking control of the narrative,” she said. “Because at first, I was so upset at the thoughts that people had about me. I’m like, ‘You know what? They’re only going off of what they were seeing, what they were shown.’ At this point, it’s up to me to control that narrative and show them the real me, the part that’s not edited.”

They now understand that navigating attention as a couple post-villa requires strict boundaries. “They [fans] were hungry for more,” Carthen explained. “We felt obligated to let them in still, in the beginning.” Over time, constant scrutiny became overwhelming, leading them to protect their peace and share less.

Despite the criticism and nonstop attention, Nicolandria continues to shake the room, together and separately. From the villa to a Glamour December cover, they are writing their story their way, and we are front row watching every chapter.