TL;DR
- Yes, Iris Kendall and TJ Palma are still together as of April 2026.
- They connected on Love Island USA Season 7 (roughly Days 14–26), but TJ was eliminated before the finale while Iris stayed and finished 4th with Pepe.
- Iris and Pepe broke up on August 27–28, 2025, following cheating allegations against Pepe.
- Iris and TJ went Instagram official on September 15, 2025, at New York Fashion Week.
- TJ made things official-official with a “will you be my girlfriend” moment in Malibu in November 2025, planned with help from Amaya and Jeremiah.
- Beyond the Villa Season 2 (April 15, 2026) revealed that Pepe allegedly fed both Iris and TJ specific lies about each other to keep them apart. Neither Iris nor TJ is on speaking terms with Pepe.
You watched the whole season. You saw Iris and TJ have something real, then watched TJ get eliminated while Iris stayed and finished the show with Pepe. Then TMZ dropped a video of Iris and TJ together in Los Angeles while she was still technically with Pepe. Then Pepe and Iris broke up. Then Iris and TJ showed up at Fashion Week looking very much like a couple. And now Beyond the Villa Season 2 is claiming that Pepe was actively working to keep them apart the whole time.
If your current read is “wait, did Iris cheat, or did someone lie to everyone, or both?”, that is the right question to be asking. Most recaps of this story treat it like a simple post-villa romance that bloomed once a relationship ended. That misses the most interesting part entirely.
This piece covers the full timeline from Days 14 through April 2026, addresses the Pepe manipulation angle with the specific details Beyond the Villa surfaced, and answers the cheating question with both sides presented.
Are Iris and TJ Still Together?
Yes. Iris Kendall and TJ Palma are still together as of April 2026. They made their relationship official in November 2025 and have been consistently public about it since.
They are not engaged, despite some fan speculation that erupted after the Malibu moment. TJ is based in Tampa. Iris splits her time between Tampa and other cities. The short answer to “did this actually work out” is yes. The longer answer involves a TMZ ambush, a Love Island reunion full of visible tension, cheating allegations pointed in multiple directions, and a Peacock show that finally laid out what allegedly happened behind the scenes.
Their Love Island Connection (Days 14–26)
TJ Palma was not a background character on Love Island USA Season 7. He and Iris were coupled up for roughly twelve days inside the villa, from around Day 14 to Day 26, when the competition eliminated TJ.
Their pairing was not a strategic one. The connection between them had genuine chemistry, the kind the show’s format sometimes produces and sometimes manufactures. This one read as real. When TJ was eliminated, it was not because the connection failed. It was show mechanics: public voting, competitor dynamics, the general chaos of a format designed to create exactly this kind of instability.
After TJ left, Iris coupled with Pepe and stayed with him through to the July 13, 2025 finale, where they came in 4th. What matters for understanding everything that follows: Iris and TJ were never a couple who broke up. The show separated them. They never had a proper ending inside the villa. That distinction is why the post-villa story is so complicated.
What Happened After the Villa
Between the July 13 finale and the September 15 Instagram post, four things happened in fast succession.
July 13–15, 2025: The Finale and the TMZ Catch
The Love Island USA Season 7 finale aired on July 13, 2025. Iris and Pepe finished 4th. TJ had already been eliminated weeks earlier.
Two days later, TMZ published video of Iris and TJ reuniting in Los Angeles. At that point, Iris was still publicly in a relationship with Pepe. Her public framing positioned the meetup as closure: two people who had a connection on the show, meeting up to process the end of that chapter. The TMZ footage did not exactly read as two people exchanging pleasantries.
August 25–28, 2025: The Reunion Show and the Breakup
The Love Island Season 7 reunion aired on August 25, 2025. Iris and Pepe appeared together, but the tension between them was visible enough that viewers and recappers noticed immediately. Iris acknowledged on camera that the couple was still figuring out what a real relationship looks like outside the villa.
Two to three days later, Iris and Pepe announced their breakup. Cheating allegations against Pepe surfaced almost immediately. Pepe’s counter-narrative pointed directly at the TMZ meetup, framing it as Iris’s “cheating scandal” rather than acknowledging his own behavior as the reason for the split.
September 15, 2025: Instagram Official at New York Fashion Week
Iris and TJ appeared together publicly at New York Fashion Week and went Instagram official on September 15, 2025. The reaction split predictably. One side landed on “finally, they were always supposed to end up together.” The other landed on “so she was with him while she was still with Pepe.” The cheating narrative had been circulating since the TMZ drop in July, and the Fashion Week post gave it new fuel.
November 2025: The Malibu Moment
TJ planned a “will you be my girlfriend” moment in Malibu in November 2025, with help from fellow Love Island cast members Amaya and Jeremiah. The Malibu moment was not a marriage proposal. It was a formal relationship ask that signaled this is real and intentional. Public perception shifted noticeably after it. Before Malibu, the relationship had an asterisk attached to it. After Malibu, most people accepted that Iris and TJ were genuinely, deliberately together.
How Pepe Allegedly Kept Them Apart
Beyond the Villa Season 2, which premiered April 15, 2026, is where the full manipulation story finally had somewhere to land. According to both Iris and TJ, Pepe told each of them specific, targeted lies about the other during the window when they were testing whether to reconnect after the show.
What Pepe allegedly told Iris: Iris claims Pepe told her TJ made a graphic, degrading comment about her in a Koreatown conversation. If she believed TJ had said something awful about her behind her back, approaching him with caution rather than romantic interest makes complete sense. The lie, if it happened, was calibrated to make the TMZ meetup feel final rather than like a beginning.
What Pepe allegedly told TJ: TJ claims Pepe told him that Iris said TJ was hooking up with Gracyn, another Love Island cast member. If TJ believed that story, he would have had a credible reason to think Iris had moved on and was actively spreading a damaging narrative about him.
Both lies follow the same structure: make the other person look like they said or did something that would justify staying away. Neither claim has been confirmed by a neutral party. These are Iris’s and TJ’s accounts as presented on Beyond the Villa. Pepe has not had a platform of equivalent reach to respond in detail.
This reframes the entire story. If the accounts are accurate, it was two people being actively managed by a third party who had a strong incentive to keep them apart. That explains why the TMZ meetup felt ambiguous, why Iris was cautious, and why the Malibu moment felt like such a definitive statement. If you’re curious how third-party interference works in reality TV relationships, the situationship red flags pattern is worth understanding.
Did Iris Cheat on Pepe With TJ?
This is the question that divided the fandom most sharply.
Iris and TJ’s account: They were not physical until after the Iris-Pepe breakup was officially announced on August 27–28, 2025. The TMZ meetup on July 15 was a conversation, not a romantic reunion.
Pepe’s account: He framed the TMZ meetup as a cheating incident, positioning himself as the wronged party and the breakup as a response to Iris’s behavior rather than his own.
What Beyond the Villa added: If Pepe was feeding both Iris and TJ false information about each other to keep them apart, his framing of the TMZ meetup as cheating is harder to take at face value.
The honest answer: if you believe Iris and TJ’s timeline, she did not cheat. If you believe Pepe’s framing, she did. Beyond the Villa gave Iris and TJ a platform to tell their version. What weight you give it is your call.
Are Iris and TJ Still Together in 2026?
As of April 2026, yes. Neither Iris nor TJ is on speaking terms with Pepe, which signals the Beyond the Villa disclosures represent a genuine rupture, not a televised drama that reset when cameras stopped rolling. There is no engagement as of this writing. Fans looking for an announcement will need to keep waiting.
FAQ
Are Iris and TJ still together in 2026?
Yes. Iris Kendall and TJ Palma are still together as of April 2026. They went Instagram official on September 15, 2025, at New York Fashion Week, and TJ made the relationship official with a Malibu moment in November 2025. They have not announced an engagement. Beyond the Villa Season 2, which premiered April 15, 2026, covered their relationship and the alleged manipulation by Pepe in detail.
Did Iris cheat on Pepe with TJ?
Iris and TJ both say no. Their account is that the TMZ-captured meetup in Los Angeles on July 15, 2025, was not physical, and that they did not pursue a romantic relationship until after Iris and Pepe’s official breakup on August 27–28, 2025. Pepe’s account frames the TMZ meetup as a cheating incident. Beyond the Villa Season 2 introduced the context that Pepe allegedly lied to both Iris and TJ about each other during this period. There is no neutral verification either way.
What did Pepe allegedly lie about to keep Iris and TJ apart?
According to Beyond the Villa Season 2, Pepe allegedly told Iris that TJ made a graphic, degrading comment about her in a Koreatown conversation. He allegedly told TJ that Iris claimed TJ had been hooking up with Gracyn, another Love Island cast member. Both lies, if accurate, were designed to create enough distance to prevent them from connecting after the villa. Neither claim has been confirmed by a neutral party.
When did Iris and TJ go Instagram official?
Iris and TJ went Instagram official on September 15, 2025, at New York Fashion Week. This came roughly three weeks after Iris and Pepe’s breakup announcement on August 27–28, 2025.
What was the Malibu moment between Iris and TJ?
In November 2025, TJ planned a “will you be my girlfriend” moment in Malibu, with help from fellow Love Island cast members Amaya and Jeremiah. It was not a marriage proposal. It was a formal, intentional ask that signaled the relationship was deliberate rather than a post-breakup rebound. The moment shifted public perception significantly.
Are Iris and TJ engaged?
No. As of April 2026, Iris Kendall and TJ Palma are not engaged. Speculation spiked after the Malibu moment in November 2025, but TJ’s ask was about becoming official as girlfriend and boyfriend, not a marriage proposal.
Did TJ hook up with Gracyn from Love Island?
This was one of the alleged lies Pepe told TJ, according to Beyond the Villa Season 2. Pepe allegedly told TJ that Iris claimed TJ had been hooking up with Gracyn, which would have given TJ reason to believe Iris was not interested. TJ has not confirmed any romantic involvement with Gracyn.
Why are Iris and TJ not speaking to Pepe?
Both Iris and TJ have publicly stated they are not on speaking terms with Pepe following the events covered in Beyond the Villa Season 2. The breakdown appears to stem from the alleged manipulation during the post-villa period. The fact that both cut contact suggests a genuine, lasting rupture rather than a storyline. For more on how situationship signs play out after reality TV, the pattern here is recognizable.
