In today’s dating culture, sincerity can feel almost subversive. For Gen Z, raised on dating apps, situationships and the ever-present fear of seeming overly eager, romance is often less about connection and more about strategy and schemes. Vulnerability is risky, emotional availability is rare and ghosting has become the norm. Whether online or offline, the pressure to appear unfazed, effortless and in control has made expressing genuine affection feel taboo.

That’s what made Love Island USA’s season 7 contestant Amaya Espinal – or as she refers to herself, Amaya Papaya – so compelling to the franchise’s growing American audience. On a show where single “islanders” live in a villa under 24/7 surveillance to find love and the chance to win $100,000 – and in a season full of clout-chasers guilty of previously espousing racial slurs – Amaya’s emotional honesty has made her a fan favourite. She’s cried openly, stood up for herself when disrespected and refused to dull her feelings to make others comfortable. While others try to stay cool or unbothered, Amaya makes it clear: she’s here to connect, not to perform. As her viral song declares: “I never said I was perfect. I never said I didn’t have any flaws. But at least I’m pretty, and at least I’m a little funny. And at least I’m my own best friend.”

Amaya’s sincerity has become a mirror, not just of what’s missing in the villa, but what so many people wish they saw more of in their own lives. Ahead of this week’s finale, we take lessons on staying sincere while dating from Amaya’s Love Island journey.

REFRAME SINCERITY AS STRENGTH

From the moment she entered the villa on June 3, Amaya’s journey has been anything but smooth. Her first connection, Ace Greene, quickly soured after he claimed she overstepped his boundaries by calling him “babe” – a term she uses for nearly everyone, including God. What followed was a character assassination: Ace framed her as coming on “too strong” and “too emotional,” prompting several male islanders to distance themselves from her and casting a shadow over her early days in the villa. But Amaya didn’t retreat. In a challenge where contestants exchanged anonymous letters, Ace again took aim at her emotional expressiveness, labelling her “too passionate,” and others piled on. Amaya calmly pushed back, defending not just herself but the right to feel deeply: “People are allowed to express themselves the way I can express myself.” Rather than internalising the critique, she reframed it as a strength – a power move.

BE THE BIGGER PERSON

In an environment where grudges fester and reputations are currency, Amaya could have easily written off those who wronged her. But her dynamic with Zak Srakaew, one of her other connections, offered another masterclass in balance. After he spun their previous romantic moment into a public dismissal, she firmly cut ties. But when he re-entered the picture and tried to weasel his way back into her orbit – conveniently after realising she was a fan favourite, voted most genuine by viewers – Amaya didn’t fall for the act. “I’m not going to have a sugar rush anymore for the word candy that you’re feeding me,” she said in her confessional. Still, Amaya took a moment to acknowledge her tone in rebuking him after his accusations. It was a quiet but radical move. Being the bigger person doesn’t mean accepting mistreatment; it means knowing when to forgive and when to stand firm, while keeping relationships intact.

LOVE THE SENSITIVE GANGSTA WITHIN

No matter how many times the villa’s men tried to paint her as “too much,” Amaya never questioned her worth. “I’m a big loving person… but I’m not going to change myself for anybody,” she said early on. Throughout a string of unstable connections, Amaya never chased validation. “I know my worth plus the tax. I don’t beg no man to see my value,” she told Ace. That clarity became her compass. She didn’t see her sensitivity as a flaw but as a form of resilience, forged through lived experience. One of her many viral lines, “God forbid I’m a sensitive gangsta,” captures this ethos perfectly. For Amaya, self-love isn’t just about affirmations – it’s about acceptance of every part of herself, even (and especially) the ones others find too loud. Instead of hiding her emotions to fit the villa’s emotional norms, she leaned into them. “I’m a weirdo, but I’m a good weirdo,” she declared. “I’m crazy, but I’m the good crazy.” 

TALK YOURSELF UP (IN ISMS)

In perhaps the season’s most iconic viral outcomes, Amaya-isms have seized the day. Her unfiltered, metaphor-heavy and effortlessly quotable affirmations have become mantras for a generation trying to fit themselves into moulds to find a genuine connection. On TikTok, fans remix her words into sayings they themselves can adopt and use daily.

Some favourites: “I consider myself a circle, and people can stop putting me into a square box”; “I’m not the book that someone should be reading, and that’s OK”; “I’m just not your cup of tea to be drinking, so don’t fucking drink it.”

Each one is a reminder that sincerity doesn’t require consensus. You don’t have to be liked by everyone. You don’t have to make yourself smaller to be chosen. And when someone tries to put you in a box, you can remind them, kindly or not, that you were never shaped to fit inside one. Here’s a bonus – if someone is bothering you, just tell them, “You’re an extremely odd individual, and I do not want to fucking talk to you ever again.”