Love Island's Sereniti Dishes About Chazz, Tyler, And What Happened In The Villa — Exclusive Interview

Oh, reality TV, what would we do without you? In the era of post-pandemic life — where we're mostly still working from home and dating consists of swiping on the apps until your thumb hurts — reality dating shows provide a much-needed escape from the mundane. And luckily for viewers, we're no longer in the era where "The Bachelor" was the only option. No shade to the ABC hit franchise, but these days, drama fans are looking for more than just elaborate dates and love triangles. No, we're looking for cast shake-ups, format changes, high stakes, and a cash prize. Think of "Love Is Blind," the experimental reality dating show that puts hopeful singles in pods — of all things — and encourages them to find love without even meeting the other person face to face until after they're engaged. Or what about "The Ultimatum"? Did you ever think you'd be watching established couples willingly switch partners and date other people, only to have their original relationship altered (for better or worse) as a result? These are the high stakes we're after, and if you haven't added "Love Island" to your roster of reality dating shows, we don't know where you've been.

"Love Island" USA Season 4 is in full swing, and with it has come a cast of characters who range from the bold to the shy to the fearless. Among them was Sereniti Springs, the exuberant California native who is a self-described "work in progress." She's not for everybody, but she is for most — according to her Instagram — and fans quickly fell in love with her. Sadly, Sereniti didn't find love on the show, and her time in the villa ultimately came to an end. But it was good news for us because we got to sit down with Sereniti for an exclusive interview, and she dished all about Chazz Bryant, her relationship with Tyler Radziszewski, and what really happened in the villa.

Before we get into your exodus, let's start with your connection with Tyler. It was a slower bond to develop, but from your perspective, why didn't that relationship pan out?

I think we just didn't work out because, unfortunately, one of them had to leave. Between my best friend and my couple up, it was an unfortunate situation I was in. You guys saw me. I was like, "What the F? Come on. Out of everything? Y'all know I've been struggling trying to find love here, and y'all took my person." Tyler and I, we had a great relationship. There were a lot of things that weren't shown about us, our extra conversations, and how deep we got into conversation. But I didn't know about ... I call it his stone face. I didn't know about his stone face until people kept on bringing it up because [when] I was with him, he was always smiling.

It was such a great relationship. We always played off of each other. It was so smooth when we made conversation. He's a shy guy, and I'm a very loud personality, which I don't know how not to be. I think he felt comfortable enough to share things with me, but I had to chase him a little bit, but I don't know how to chase a little bit. I was like, "That's enough chasing."

We chatted with him last week, and [he's] such a sweet, mellow guy.

Yeah.

Would there ever be any desire for you to connect outside of that island, or outside of the Villa, I should say?

Yeah. We have spoken already a little bit — little DM talk, little phone number exchange, because when you leave the Villa, you don't have each other's numbers. We go through that process of asking for each other's numbers, but we're hoping to hang out soon. But now that we're on the outside, he's got to chase me a little bit. I can't give all the goodies. I'm overrunning. I told him, "I'm a runner, but I'm not going to sprint." I'm hoping maybe he'll take me on a date or something. Take a girl on a date, Tyler.

Once you were navigating your experience without Tyler, you turned your attention to Chazz when he entered the Villa. What was it about him that initially caught your eye?

A lot of people keep asking me that — what caught my eye? I wasn't chosen by Chazz, nor did I choose Chazz initially. I was kind of summoned into our relationship, and I had to give it a chance because I did promise myself I was going to give my whole heart to every opportunity I had with a person, because it's not always going to be off this physical aspect. It's going to be off of a personal aspect, morals aspect, and plenty more, like how I'm treated, how I feel. Do I feel comfortable? Am I able to have these intellectual conversations that I'm very attracted to? Things like that. So being chosen for somebody was very weird to me because I didn't understand it at first. 

Then I tried my utmost not to bring up the age difference because that is a huge thing that I decided to remove from our conversations when we were talking. The only thing that brought it up is — I'm laughing because it replays in my head — there was a point where we were talking about what years we were born. [We were] going, 1994, 1995. And he said 2001. That struck me so hard because I have a little sister that was born in 2001. The reference just really bothered me, and that was toward the end. But before, I did take that out of it being a problem for our relationship because I wanted to give it a try. Chazz seemed like a really ... I don't want to say sweet kid. I call every man a kid, but he seemed like a sweet kid when I first met him. So it was like, why not give him a try?

In the Villa as well, you have to go with what your gut is telling you because time isn't on your side.

I was a wandering bug for a little bit in the Villa, from the beginning. I stepped forward for Andy, and I wasn't chosen, so I was trigger shy about stepping forward after that because it is painful. But I did tell myself, I didn't want any man to feel that way, because I'm a huge advocate. I'm everyone's cheerleader. But I did regret not stepping forward for Jesse. I think that was my biggest regret from that great coupling, but Felipe was such a great friend to start with because I was able to have someone that wanted to hear me out, and I heard him out, and we had each other when it came down to caring about each other's feelings.

Definitely. We got to chat with [Felipe] last week.

He's such a sweetheart, and he was such a great friend to me. I don't have anything bad to say about Felipe, and that's one thing that people are like, "What didn't you like about him?" I'm like, "I loved Felipe. Felipe was such a doll to me." And I had great friends there.

As we saw, Chazz and Kat struck up a connection. What was your gut instinct to that, watching how this experience might be coming to a close for you?

I knew my experience was coming to a close before Kat came in because Chazz and I were not really working well together. That's why I kept saying you've got to be careful what you pray for in the Villa because I was asking a man to give me all these things, and they get to watch the show before coming in. So you pray for these things, you come in, and you act on those things.

I'm recalling you said in a confessional that you couldn't have seen it working out with him outside of the Villa. That's such a tangible thing. You have to be able to see it in the real world.

Exactly. I still have all my frat clothes from college, but I graduated five years ago. So sorry, I don't know what to tell you.

When you got that text that you were leaving the Villa, take me back to that moment. What was your first thought?

I got that text, and I was like, "I'm free." That's so bad, but one thing I am consistently is myself. I don't think, at one point in the Villa at all, that I acted like anything else, because I'm like this year round. Villa, year round, all the time. When I got the text, it was hurtful, but it wasn't as hurtful as that speech. I'll take that text any day.

Take me back to that speech, that gut reaction.

Before we had the recoupling, I did ask him three things: Don't embarrass me, don't blindside me, and be kind. None of those were done, and that's why we ended on a handshake, because I was very big on friendship first because you don't hurt your friends. He was saying, "I'm confused, I'm confused," [but] my thing is, if you're friends with me first, I will go out of my way to think about your feelings because you're my friend first. And I noticed that I wasn't his friend for him to do that.

Watching your story and experience, and then looking at what fans were saying — asking for those things, being respected and being kind and having a friendship first, that's an experience that so many young women are asking guys for. We could totally relate to everything that you were going through.

That's good to know because one thing that I did express is, with my ex-fiancé, we were just dating partners. We were never friends. That's the thing that was a very big part for me for my next relationship. So when I requested that from him, he saw it as me pushing us all the way back. No, I need my foundation to be our friendship because I care about your feelings more than my own if you're my friend.

Like I said, words hold value. So the way he presented himself, I didn't need to say anything else. I don't need to blackball him. He's going to show himself. And Chazz with two Zs, I hope he does well, because for me, it's Chazz with two Zs, sleep on it. Goodnight.

Watching your story, as I said, fans weighed in. I did a cursory search on social media, and so many people said how sad they were to see you go.

Ohh. That's great.

Talk to me now a little bit about this fame. You've got a platform. What's next for you?

I am feeling beyond blessed. This was not my first go around. I actually was looked at last year. I was in Hawaii for about seven weeks, just on the inside, no social media, no access to the world. And to come in on the new year of the season and be an OG, a top five, felt like a bad b*tch. So I feel very honored, blessed, and beyond words favored. I manifested this.

My heart is so, so happy, and I'm happy that I stayed true to myself. Regardless of how far I made [it] on the show, one thing I was consistent [on] and I told myself [was] I was going to stay true to myself. The titties were titting. Sereniti was doing her best. I think love is out there for me. I'm not giving up yet. My parents are starting to ask questions: "When is she ever going to find a man?" But I hope they see that I'm still trying.

Authenticity is key, and what's been so fun about getting to sit down with you is that you're exactly who we see on-screen.

Oh, good. Yeah, I'm like this all the time.

Any regrets from your time on the show?

I don't have many, but the only [thing] I do regret is not getting a chance to mingle with Jesse a little bit more. I wish I would've coupled up with him at the beginning. I think we would've been great. We are so fine. There's just so many fine people in the Villa. And I was like, "You know what, I'm fine too, okay? I deserve to find myself a fine man." And Jesse is top tier.

"Love Island" USA Season 4 drops new episodes Tuesdays through Sundays on NBC's Peacock, with recap episodes releasing on Saturdays.

This interview was edited for clarity.