Love Island Favorites Deb And Jesse On The Future, Relatability, And More - Exclusive Interview

Perhaps what's even more fun than watching a reality dating show unfold is picking fan favorites. There's always the virgin, the villain, the frontrunner, and the underdog, but sometimes, there's just that one couple that you can't help but root for. "Love Island" USA Season 4 saw some amazing couples — winners Zeta Morrison and Timmy Pandolfi were solid from day one, runners-up Sydney Paight and Isaiah Campbell proved that ups and downs don't have to define a relationship, and Andy Voyen and Mady McLanahan made it clear that listening to your heart (and leaving the island to do so) is a risk worth taking. While all these couples and more made our hearts swoon, we couldn't help but root for Deb Chubb and Jesse Bray, the underdog couple that — despite hesitation on Deb's part for a second there — made it all the way to the finale.

Season 4 had some amazing cast members — Courtney Boerner couldn't have been nicer, Zeta couldn't have been more genuine, and Deb couldn't have been more relatable. Her bold personality and unapologetic self won viewers over very quickly, and her connection with Jesse made us that much more excited to see where the relationship would take her. For his part, Jesse was humble, sweet, and certainly had eyes for Deb (he even told us that she's out of his league). While this now-exclusive couple didn't take home the grand prize of $100,000, they left the villa at the end of the season with life lessons, friends, and of course, a relationship with one another. After the season finale, we sat down with Deb and Jesse to get all the info, and they didn't hold back.

As you said, there's been hurdles. The journey has seen both of you waver. Deb, you were questioning your connection pretty soon into the finale. What ultimately made you realize that Jesse was the one and vice versa?

Deb: It was family day. I had been in my head, had a bunch of anxieties, and feeling pressure from the other islanders. I didn't want Jesse to have to feel that pressure. I was projecting how I was feeling onto him, trying to be like, "You don't have to feel this way," but we could have communicated about it better. But once it was family day, and I saw his mom and grandma, and our families got to meet and how happy and proud all of them were for us, and how much love that Jess' mom and grandma had for him, it was so cute. I was sitting there like, "I really don't want to lose this. I need to fix this."

I talked to him the next day and basically told him, "I'm so sorry, I was in my head. I was overthinking. You're so perfect." I was trying to find something wrong when I should face my fears and accept the fact that I have a genuinely great guy in front of me. When it got to our final date, I was like, "Okay, I'm going to put my big girl pants on. I'm going to swallow my pride." Hopefully, he would take me back in a sense, or want to take that step.

I explained to him that I really did want to be exclusive. I wanted to take things to the next step. It's important to leave the villa having had that conversation and having a mutual understanding in that way. I told him I want to be exclusive. I was like, "Okay, but you're still going to have to ask me to be your girlfriend again." I was hinting at him. But he did, which I'm very happy about. It all worked out.

It sounds like such a unique experience because you're in this sheltered environment — no phones, no access to the outside world. I would imagine that it's very easy to get in your head or overthink. 

Deb: It really is. No one has phones or anything, so all you can do is talk to everyone. You're telling everyone something like, "Yeah, maybe I did see that." I'm like, "I have been having ..." They're confirming things or putting in their opinions, and it's so much to process. Then you have behind-the-scenes people trying to encourage you and help you and give you advice. I'm an overthinker as it is. It was being in a confined space with nothing but your thoughts.

Jesse: They did a good job. Some days, we were able to decompress and relax, and [it] felt like vacation. It was so sweet, and everybody treated us with so much respect. I want to give a shout-out to everybody that helped us throughout this process.

Walk me through what comes next for you both — plans? Next steps in your relationship? You're now out in the real world, so what does life look like moving forward?

Jesse: What we thrived on inside the villa was going at our own pace. After this, we're going to unpack, see our families, and take some time to ourselves to recollect and think about everything we've been through. We know what we have, and my lease is up in Houston at the end of September. We'll be a lot closer. I'll be moving to Ventura, which is about an hour and 20 from Redondo, where she stays right now. I think everything will work out just fine. We're going to continue to take it day by day.

That's great. I was going to ask about location, because that's always something that comes up once you have — you've been together for six weeks? It's such a crash course in being in a relationship.

Deb: It really is. I feel like where we are is where you get after a year of dating somebody, because we're so emotionally connected.

What kind of dates or things do you want to do now that you're released into the world?

Deb: I'm actually most excited to Netflix and chill. We'll go to dinners and stuff, and go to the movies, but to watch a movie together in bed, we never got to do that — normal boyfriend-girlfriend stuff.