Kierstan Saulter on Her New Bae & Her ‘Love Island’ Finale Vote

CBS Kierstan Saulter of "Love Island" season 2 credits the show for the healthy relationship she's in now.

Kierstan Saulter may not have found love on her season of “Love Island,” but she says she has the show to thank for the healthy relationship she’s in now.

During season 2 of the CBS reality dating show, Saulter was coupled up with Carrington Rodriguez for three recoupling ceremonies in a row. Carrington then chose to couple up with Laurel Goldman instead. Saulter was next paired with Calvin Cobb and then Bennett Sipes, but neither relationship worked out.

Heavy had a chance to chat with Saulter about her time in the villa, her thoughts on the season 3 contestants, and how “Love Island” prepared her for her current relationship.

Saulter Reveals the Thing That Might’ve Changed Her ‘Love Island’ Journey

Bennett Sipes didn’t enter the “Love Island” villa until day 26 of season 2. Sipes was all in on pursuing Saulter, who says things might’ve worked out differently if he’d come on the show earlier.

“I was just kind of exhausted at the end when he came in,” Saulter told Heavy. “If Bennett had come in earlier in the season, it probably would’ve changed things.” 

That being said, the Texas native has no regrets about her time on the show. It taught her to be more open about her feelings.

Before “Love Island,” Saulter told Heavy, “I was the type of person who could text you a paragraph of my feelings but never be able to say that to you in person or even like over the phone.” The show forced her to be vulnerable and honest about how she was feeling in real-time.

Saulter has a new guy in her life and she’s been seeing him for over half a year at this point. “It’s been the best and healthiest relationship I’ve been in and I have ‘Love Island’ to thank for that, honestly,” she said. 

Who Is Saulter’s New Man?

Saulter has been intentionally hush-hush about her boyfriend’s identity on social media. “I haven’t done a boyfriend reveal yet. So that’ll come soon,” she told Heavy.

She recently teased her Instagram followers by posting a picture of her with her friend Kenny Gallegos. “Keep guessing… 🤫,” Saulter caption the photo, tagging Gallegos as @notmyboyfriend.

One thing’s for sure, Saulter’s boyfriend is an actor. She started following him on Instagram after seeing him in a TV show. He followed her back and the pair began liking each other’s photos.

After a while, Saulter decided she’d had enough of the subtle Instagram flirting. She told Heavy that one day while driving, “I was like when I get home, I’m going to reach out to him. Within 5 to 10 minutes of me saying that I got a notification on my phone. And I was like ‘how funny would that be if it that was him’ and it was!”

From that moment on, the pair didn’t stop talking. Saulter’s boyfriend has even visited Texas to meet her friends and family. “I love my boyfriend, he’s great,” the “Love Island” alum said.

Why Saulter Didn’t Vote for Any of the Final ‘Love Island’ Couples

Saulter tuned in to season 3 of “Love Island” but she didn’t vote for a winning couple. “I actually didn’t vote because I was so frustrated with the final couples,” she told Heavy.

Like many fans of the show, she felt that most of the final couples were simply too new. As for Will and Kyra, the runners-up who had been together since day one, Saulter said, “they weren’t really my favorites.”

Saulter believes that the reason fans didn’t fully support Will and Kyra was a mixture of their lack of screen time and the way Will handled his indiscretion at Casa Amor.

As for the winners Olivia and Korey, Saulter just wasn’t sure if their relationship was truly more than a friendship. She knows that many successful relationships start as friendships, but says that has never been the case for her.

“It’s called a spark for a reason. You feel it or you don’t. If I don’t feel it at the beginning, it’s probably not gonna come,” Saulter told Heavy. 

Shannon and Josh were her favorite couple of the season. The pair left the villa early after Josh received news that his sister had passed away. Does Saulter think Shannon and John would’ve won had they been able to stay?

“There is no doubt in my mind,” she said. 

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