Pepe Garcia & Turd Self Lid: Tuesday, July 15th, 2025

0:22I sound amazing. Welcome back to The Toast. I am humbled and honored to be joined by somebody who America voted number four, but in our hearts, he's number one. It's Pepe Garcia from Love Island, USA, just back from Fiji. Hello, Pepe. How are you doing today? I'm so excited. I'm actually, I don't know if you know this, I had a baby seven weeks ago. I'm on maternity leave. I'm not podcasting for the next two months, but I got a text. I got a text that we had the opportunity to have you on the show and you are the only person I would have gotten out of bed for. I have been a fan of yours since day one.

0:53I feel like the papyrus sand train starts and ends with me. And I'm honored to be speaking with you. I love it. Thank you so much. Honestly, that's, first of all, congratulations on having a baby. And secondly, thank you for coming on the podcast just for me. I really appreciate that, honestly. I have so much, selfishly, I wanted to have you on. I have so much to ask you. You have kind of been at the center of a lot of the couples that Jackie and I have been following really closely. So my sister Jackie hosts this show with me, and she was obsessed with TJ and Iris. And when TJ got sent home, she was kind of like done with the show.

1:31And I said, just wait. There's something brewing. And lo and behold, we got Papyrus. Now, you guys did not win, which I'll get into later in the show because I'm devastated about. But I think, and based on some of the things I've seen on social media of you guys in the airport, like you are actively still in a couple, correct? Yes. Yeah, we are. exclusive seeing other people when i think yeah i mean that's how i date so i wouldn't want to do anything differently nowadays right i mean that's such a refreshing take to hear from a you know a young man how old are you pepe 27 oh my god i can't believe i'm older than pepe you just seem so wise and and mature and actually seeing your mom on the show i feel like i got to understand how you got to be the way that you are because your parents were quite sophisticated um they are yeah they they hold themselves to a level of respect and accountability you know they had me when me and my sister when we were young so um the fact that they're able to show that I think showed me that I can show that as well at a young age well that was kind of I think what also set you apart in the villa is anytime you were you know speaking to somebody or in a couple with somebody you weren't actively pursuing other connections and I know that's what the show was for but like at some point like you can stop like you don't need to be exploring connections till the very end and that was like a little bit of the frustration I had with some of the couples but it was really refreshing to see you just sort of go all in on somebody and you had a few people whom you went all in on throughout that journey first obviously we have to talk about Hannah because I loved you and Hannah together and I was screaming at my tv like throwing things at it when she got sent home I was so upset to walk me through that journey for you were you shocked when girls chose her I was shocked um they're honestly very shocked I think everybody not only was I shocked but I think all the guys were shocked as well I think some of the girls were probably shocked and obviously America was definitely shocked um but I think that was the name of the season uh yeah that was I don't think anything this season that happened was I mean if somebody told me this how the whole season was going to play out um I would have thought you were lying to me or you were the smartest person in the world.

3:35Yeah. There's, there's no in between. So yeah, I think we were all shocked. And I was really proud of you for at the standing on business challenge for bringing it back up. And I thought Sierra's answer, like literally made no sense. She was speaking gibberish and I wish you pushed her a little bit more, but like, I understand you were just being respectful, but good for you for bringing it up. I still don't really understand why she got sent home. A theory online is that at the time Huda was thinking about pursuing you because she was kind of left with nobody after jeremiah and she had made it seem like she wanted to pursue you and then maybe getting hannah out of the way was a good way for her to do that but then we never saw her pursue you after was there anything that went on with you and huda after hannah went home um i had a conversation with her and i don't know i haven't even been able to watch the show yet so i'm kind of hearing bits and pieces as i go um i had a conversation with her and kind of told her i wasn't a big fan of the way she moved and the way she did a couple things considering Hannah really took care of her um right especially as Huda was put in these positions of not being at the top of the leaderboard and then being at the top but still voters running or Islanders kind of putting her position to potentially get voted off and Hannah was Hannah was there for and for Huda to then come and pull me for a chat special phrase around here I guess um without kind of letting Hannah know I wasn't a big fan of that But I think exploring in here, in the villa, I should say, and I'm here, I'm not there anymore.

5:03Oh, my God. Are you okay? Like, are you having, like, sort of, because you've literally been completely disconnected, right? Completely. From the world, no phone. Do you guys know about, like, world affairs? It was, like, low-key a small war in Iran while you guys were gone. Did you know that? We didn't know anything. They literally kept everything silent. I mean, even when our parents came, which kudos to all of them, they did such a good job of keeping everything a secret yeah yeah the second we got home and opened up our phones it was like insane what yeah like what is going on with the watch party yeah it was wild um so quickly back to hannah i think a question that everyone wants to know is when she left the villa you guys were like pretty seriously you know whatever you want to call it dating seeing one another um and life goes on you know you had to get back to what she had to do she had to leave and you did fall into this other couple, which I think is more serious than you were with Hannah.

5:54But do you and I know you just got home last night, so it might be premature. But do you talk to Hannah? Like, have you spoken to Hannah? Do you end things with Hannah? Like, where does Hannah play into all of this? So I haven't even had the chance to speak to Hannah. Yesterday I got home and I was just immediately I drove down, picked up my dog, I saw my family and friends and they had millions of questions. Right. So I kind of put the phone to the side and just spoke to them, just turned it all off and said, let me speak to the people that actually have been loving and caring for me from before all of this happened.

6:28Yeah. And let me make sure that they know the full story of everything before anybody else. I think that's only fair. So I would like to speak to Hannah. I think what happens in Love Island is a crazy thing. you're with somebody for a couple days that in there feels like a lifetime and so you really get to connect with somebody very quickly especially when you realize that you connect with somebody more than anybody else right and so being with one person for X amount of time it really makes you just kind of want to be with them for forever right it feels like that's your person it feels like this is the only person I can talk to and hang out with in here that really understands me or just wants to also be with me um Hannah's an amazing girl I'll you know I'll cherish every moment that I have with her in the building I definitely want to call her and you know give her just talk to her you know and so in one of the interviews she's like no matter what I'd still love to be friends with her and it's like you know what I think just because things happen in the building things went one way for one person another way for another I think at the end of the day we all went through this crazy experience together so yeah why shouldn't we all still be friends no matter what.

7:42I also would love to know how you felt about you know, you get cast on the show. I'm sure you're very excited. You're in the hotel room. When are they going to bring me out? This new bombshell. And then you find out that you're going to be brought out in a pair of leather underwear with another man, Jalen, who we love. Right. Walk me through your thought process when you saw that outfit on the hanger. You know what? That process was one of the funniest and weirdest processes of my life. There was no outfit set out. They brought me out in the morning. I was in the hotel. You know, you have your little routine.

8:15And then we're just trying out a bunch of clothes and seeing what fits and what we like and what we don't like. Definitely a weird one. But I remember once I realized, like, this is what I'm doing, I'm walking in like this, I could only just remember thinking, my mom is going to kill me. For sure. My mom, my sister, my dad's going to laugh his ass off. But yeah, that was the only thought process that night, honestly, until I physically started walking into the villa. Did you think about your parents or your family a lot on the show? Because you are put almost, you know, not daily, every couple of days, in precarious situations.

8:54The challenges are quite explicit. And you know this is being televised and you know your parents are watching. I think, did your mom run your social media for you while you were gone? No, I had one of my social media managers run. um you know she did tell him yeah i saw little messages from your mom on your instagram like oh my god that's so cute um but you're in the challenge the milk challenge that one really stuck with me you know spitting milk from your mouth into somebody else's what's going through your mind as it relates to your family you know uh challenges i wasn't really too worried about um it was more of like the the relationships and the connections you build in there and what they're seeing when I'm not um obviously I'm I can't have eyes and ears everywhere in the villa um I think this season would have been a lot easier if we did I think every season in general would be a lot easier if you did um so you know it's my biggest worry was you're always thinking because this is your support system back home right and you bring a home a girl home they're going to tell you everything that they think about her um so not being able to have that where it's like I wonder what they're seeing and are they seeing what I'm seeing or are they seeing a different side of this person that I'm not seeing that was more of the you know the questions and the worries that I had with my family it wasn't so much the challenges I think we all kind of understood when I went on the show I had no clue of the show prior um and I started watching some episodes before leaving with my family and they were like this is crazy and I was like you know what crazy but it seems like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I could not pass out what made you want to do this show you're not like a likely candidate for it we're you were playing basketball overseas correct yes I was playing basketball overseas I had a couple injuries that made me decide I think it's time to hang it up and then I was just working I was working on businesses and they a couple of my friends you know were telling me about doing different things in social media I never really wanted to do it.

10:56And then the show kind of hit me up. And I realized I went to college for a couple years, a year and a half. And I never really got to experience this whole spring break type of vibe. Yeah. And it seemed like, you know what, this is probably as I'm 27, not in my early 20s, obviously in my late 20s. So this is probably one of the only last times I'm going to really get a chance to go out there and have some fun. And I decided, you know what, no matter what, if I don't meet someone that I really like, I'm probably going to meet some amazing friends that are going to turn into family that are very similar to me and like what I do and are the way I am.

11:37So that was my reasoning for going on it, to meet friends and potentially someone that, which is ironic looking back at it, but potentially someone that I would have probably never met in my normal day-to-day life in California. Yeah, it was a shot in the dark, but a shot I wanted to take. Now, this might be a dumb question because I don't know how the overseas basketball leagues work, but did you know Chris? He's also an overseas basketball player. The overseas basketball world is such a small but big circle. I didn't know Chris from overseas, but apparently as we were talking to Villa, him and I had played in high school one game together against each other.

12:15Oh, that's so cute. Yeah. And it was funny when my dad was watching everything. He came, and when he came for family day, he's like, I like Chris a lot. He's like, when I get home, I'm going to watch the tape of you guys playing each other. That's so cute. Yeah, so I'm excited, honestly. I spoke to him about it yesterday. He's like, we got to have a little like watch party with you and Chris so we can watch the game and see who actually played better. That's so cute. But I didn't know of him, but we've got a bunch of friends. It's a small world. Yeah, small world, but just such a big world as well.

12:49I can pretty much back up every decision you made on this show, except for one. And now in hindsight, I can think maybe you were being slick. but when I was watching the challenge where so no someone was getting sent home and you guys had to vote and stand behind them yes and your ass stood behind Taylor the way I wanted to kill you especially because I felt in that moment so deeply for Iris like she is in an active couple like she was so emotional and I really wanted to kill you now I see maybe you were being slick like you know trying to get Iris isolated out on her own so you could attack if not explain yourself So that was the complete wrong reasoning for me doing that.

13:33I did not do that at all because of that. I'm going to be honest with you. Taylor is one of the guys in there that, from the day that I walked in, has had my back. He's helped me maneuver everything from the start. And honestly, I respected him so much for everything that he's done for me, from literally the beginning to the end. There's not one point in my experience with Taylor that he did anything that was just not to help me. And, you know, honestly, you look at things in the villa and you can say, OK, well, I want to do things for myself. Or you say, I want to do things for other people. And I was definitely the one that I decided if I left, I left.

14:16I didn't care to be there a long time. I didn't care to be there a short amount of time. I want to make sure that I'm true to myself and respectful to everybody. I'm like that in the outside world, so why would I change in there? And, yeah, it was one of those things where I respect Taylor from the bottom of my heart. He's the first person I called. Well, he's the third person I called when I got my phone back. You know, I called my mom, my dad, and my family. Then I called my friends. Those are two separate phone calls, and he was the third one. So, you know, just to check in on him and see how he's doing.

14:47I didn't get to, you know, they're quick goodbyes. So you try to get as much out as you can in those couple of minutes. How did you get his phone number? Instagram. Oh, interesting. He followed me on Instagram, yeah. Okay. Phone numbers were all getting spread out through IG, just trying to, you know, even followers. It's like you're getting so many followers that you follow somebody and you're like, I don't know who followed me. So you're just trying to look up everybody's name. Is there a group chat now with all the castmates? Not yet, but I believe there's going to be one very, very soon. I sound like Ariana when I say that Totally Today's very special episode of The Toast is brought to you by Hill House Home As you guys know, Hill House Home invented the viral nap dress And it has been the most flattering and comfortable fit for me It is my favorite dress Jackie put me onto it like a year ago And getting pregnant, being postpartum And owning a nap dress is life-changing Especially for a breastfeeding mama That little elastic, you just whip a titty out It's amazing It's the cutest dresses I wore one this morning when I went to a bris So it's loved by celebrities like Turdy Lou but also Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Anne Hathaway.

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22:06Especially, like I said earlier, the way three weeks in there feels like four or five months, right? But he chose his heart. And honestly, again, you just respected for it. Because at the end of the day, no matter what, the only thing you can continue to base your decisions is off of in there is from your heart and how your heart feels um so my heart felt to stand behind taylor and i mean i and my family said that they saw in the episode and uh tj had an interview saying it where i just kept saying i'm sorry um right i'm sorry to tj i'm sorry to iris because you know i've i've been taking i was caring for iris and taking care of her making sure that she was fine from the start so me choosing from my heart saying you know what i just taylor taylor was my rock in there and same with iris i mean it was honestly such a tough decision to make yeah well but you know you get put in those decisions split moment decisions where you have to just make them and i don't know i just honestly the way taylor was looking at clark and the way clark was the way they were both maneuvering themselves in there and just continue to deal with everything being thrown at them and continue to just choose each other no matter what.

23:21I just I didn't want that journey to end for them. That's nice. I guess like when you hear when I hear you say it that way, it's not so bad. Can we talk about the finale? I have a couple of questions. One moment in particular has gone viral. I'm not sure if you've seen, but when it's all said and done, you give iris a kiss because you guys are so cute and in love and then iris is a joke because like huda's third wheeling she's like do you have one for huda and you give the dirtiest look and you just like ignored iris um talk me through that do you hate huda no not at all there's no hate to anybody uh it's actually really funny there's a lot of moments that you don't really notice that they're gonna put in there but you're just trying to joke around and you like you kind of wait for them to continue to play something and it just doesn't happen um I thought you were going to bring up the when Iris and I cheered but had I had taken a drink beforehand and I said oops afterwards because I took a drink and she said cheers I was like oops like my fault and I know people are spinning that around like as if we were mad to get fourth place and it's like not at all were you because I was mad um not mad at all honestly like I said earlier everything in here I didn't come to win.

24:32I didn't come to stay in the villa until the finale. Nothing was pre-planned or premeditated. It was just be you, be happy, enjoy it because there was a ton of different emotions, not just happy ones, but sad ones. So enjoy it no matter how you can. And whatever happens, happens. So I was happy no matter what the outcome was. I was happy if I would have left three days into the villa i was happy if i stayed until the finale i was happy getting fourth i would have been happy getting first none of that mattered it was just be able to walk out of that experience and still be happy is all that i could have asked for so did you have an idea of who was going to win because based on like my experience and i think a lot of people who are watching and like you know engaging on social media it was like pretty clear amaya and brian were going to win she was really really well liked not even so much them as a couple but more so her as a person um did that permeate the Villa did you guys know that or you really it was just like going in blind we had no idea um we had no idea what was happening we had no idea I mean when we got out of there we saw that she had millions and a bunch of the girls had millions we were like wow like yeah I mean and I tell this and obviously people probably won't believe me I walked into this experience thinking like I'm gonna walk out with maybe a couple thousand followers more like nothing crazy I had never seen the show so i didn't know that last season had gone i guess very well and it was kind of one of those things where i'm like i don't know so we didn't even think that at least me i didn't really think that there was much going on with all that you know i didn't know there's that much voting going on in the outside world i thought it was very just small and unique and particular to to a group of people that were voting.

26:22But clearly I was wrong. It was huge. I was very wrong. It was huge. So, yeah, we had no idea what was happening. And so that challenge where you guys had to stand on different podiums based on how people in America were voting. And it seemed like everybody was really shocked that not only were Shelly and Ace like not everyone's number ones, they actually a lot of people did not think that they were genuine. And it seems like everybody in the villa sort of thought Ace and Shelly were like king and queen. Is that how the dynamic in the villa was? Personally, I've never held anybody higher than anybody else.

27:02So I never thought somebody was king and queen in there. It was always just, you know, you base things off of your eye value and your value of what you see. And for me, I always thought Ace and Shelly were very respectful people to me at least because that's all I was able to see. I never saw anything else outside of that um and honestly until i watch the show i still feel that way um until i until i give until i'm given a reason as to why i don't believe that um i'm going to continue to think that obviously uh so no it wasn't about a king and queen i think it was just honestly from what i've experienced with the both of them yeah they were very at least to me very genuine very very to be very kind um a couple of things that were like you know misleading every once in a while but then they would bring it right back in and you know apologize or whatever they needed to do and it's like you know what i don't see you know they never again from what i know they never said anything wrong about me and then not say it to my face they would bring it up to my face and and honestly i think that's as genuine as you can get you know if you don't like somebody if you tell them i mean shoot or if you do like someone you tell them or if you have a problem and you And so no matter what, as long as you're saying it, that's being as respectful and kind.

28:22So, you know, even if it's a negative thing, it's still respectful. And, yeah, so I held him to that just because of what I saw. And your decision to, I don't like to use the word reject because it feels kind of harsh, but Andrina, that was really shocking. When she entered the villa, everybody was like, you know, tongues hanging out of their mouths, Andrina this, Andrina that. she comes back from casa she wants to pursue things with you and you just in a very lovely way told her no was that more so because you wanted to pursue other a different connection or just because she's like not your type oh i'll say this i don't have a type i don't think oh well that's also been major discourse on social media that you only like the blonde girls i've seen that no i definitely uh i don't have a type i think attractive is attractive and i kind of just went off again i I put everything mentally to a side and just went off my heart.

29:15And at that time, I was with Grayson. I was kind of trying to figure things out with her after the Hannah dumping. Poor Grayson. Yeah, after the Hannah dumping, I was like, it was, again, you're in this little whirlwind for a couple days. And I know in the episode, people are saying, like, oh, people move on so quick. It's, you know, one episode doesn't mean it's one day. Like, one episode can have been filmed over a span of two, three days. you know so people are moving on after two or three episodes that might be five days but i also imagine a day in the villa is not a normal day in at home like the hours it just feels like so much happens in a day yeah so it's one of those things where you know all of that kind of gets a little intertwined and confusing um but yeah when when andrena came to me and was like kind of telling me like i'd like to explore you we had a couple chats before casa never really did anything because I was with Hannah.

30:10I kind of was in the same boat as I was with Hannah, where it's like, let me give my all to this person and really explore this option until it either continues or until I realize there has to be an end to it. Just sadly, the way that worked out was I realized, like, I just didn't feel that spark with Grayson. I kind of sat her down and I told her as politely and respectfully as possible because you are dealing with some of these emotions. Of course. But in that moment with Andreina, I was like, look, I need to make sure that I can give Grace my undivided attention so I can make sure I do like her.

30:47Because I didn't want to stay in the villa and not be authentic and not be happy just to stay in the villa. Like, that didn't make any sense. Like, I would have rather left the first day I walked in if I was not going to be happy with the person that I was going to be with. Because at the end of the day, again, a normal day in the village is not a normal day out here. So you're going to be 24-7 with somebody. I want to make sure I'm happy with that person. So, yeah, it was nothing against her, nothing about, like, I'm not attracted to her. I think all the women that walked in were beautiful. I think all the guys that walked in were attractive.

31:24I didn't see a single person. I was like, you know, why are they here? Well, that's very nice of you. Yeah, everybody was, you know, on their P's and Q's in there. and everybody was there for a reason. So yeah, no, it wasn't anything like that. So did you sit next to Iris on the flight home? I did. And I saw you guys in the airport and there was like so many fans. I'm sure that was really shocking. It was. Then you two went your separate ways. Of course, you have to say hi to your family and I saw your dogs. When are you and Iris going to get together next? And like, do you think it's going to be different?

31:53Like weird? You know, I'll answer the first question. I think we're going to hang out tonight. date night yeah we're gonna do burgers on the beach in and out something something smaller realizing maybe it might be a little bit harder nowadays yes yeah i don't think burgers on the beach is gonna work yeah maneuvering that a little bit is gonna be an interesting one um but i don't know we'll see but definitely want to hang out with her uh i will say the the awkward part was i've never texted her right obviously um and i had never facetimed her it was always like we're just together in person for 30 something days um so when i got into the the the escort to get back to my house i took her to her house and to get back to mine when we got into the uh when i got into the car i was just i kind of turned off the phone and just let it go because i realized i don't want to go down the whirlwind of yeah things i just let me just relax for a bit it was the only i had an hour and a half drive and there was some traffic so i was like you know what i've got some time to just close my eyes for a little bit and just relax um and when i got home i realized shoot i need to text her i need to like tell her i'm home like all these little things that you're you know you you do pretty quickly into relationships that i didn't um and then even last night i was like do you want to like facetime like stop that's so cute um and it was also very awkward of like asking the question whereas usually i don't know like i'm very much a facetime person yeah so i wouldn't have even asked the question i would just call click the button facetime right if they answer the answer they don't they don't but yeah the last thing i want to ask you about is another saga i mean it was such a long six weeks like there's so many things that happened that now seems so many but your bombshell brother jaylen took the world by storm People were, and by the way, when I say people, I mean myself, so mad that he didn't get chosen.

34:00He was such a genuine, sweet guy. I think a lot of people were really touched by the fact that it was his first time leaving the country. He got his passport for this, only to be brutally rebuffed by Alandria and sent home. It was devastating. The internet really rallied behind him. He had a million followers on TikTok, all these brands, airlines, hotels wanting to fly him out, help him see the world. it was such a beautiful thing because social media can be so toxic especially the love island fandom gets really fucking crazy it was such a wonderful moment and i'm curious if you've spoken to him to see a big travel plans like what's up with jaylen you know what he texting um i get chills every this is like the fifth time somebody has brought this up and i keep getting chills over it um i i he texted me last night uh and we're gonna see i'm gonna hang out with him on wednesday But he is literally, gosh, I mean, everything you said, you hit it to a T.

34:51He's the sweetest man in this planet. And for him to put himself out there and do something like this. I mean, we all put ourselves out there to do this crazy experience. But the fact that he had never done anything, even remotely, not even traveled. It's just like, I mean, you know, you have to give him all the love and all the respect for that. I mean, truly, I'm so happy I walked in with him. I'm so happy I got to talk to him. I had the most conversations with him. We had each other's back, him, I, and Iris. We constantly had conversations in the villa, and we just always had each other's back.

35:29And proud to be able to say that he is, like, the closest guy that I had in there after Taylor. And, you know, I wish he would have stayed till the end. I mean, he deserved it of all people. Agreed. those are situations where which happen a lot in the villa where it's like you just want to put yourself in the other person's position so that they can continue to just yeah live that experience and that was that was I it happened for me a couple times but that was a big one while I was like gosh I wish I could just trade places with him and just let him stay here and just continue to be him continue to to find something because we all loved him I mean that was yeah that was That was a heart-wrenching one for me.