Alexa, do not play “Toxic” by Britney Spears.
“Love Island USA” star Felipe Gomes is firing back at ex Courtney Boerner for badmouthing their reality TV romance once he left the villa.
“I don’t feel that way. I watched that part and I didn’t get what she was trying to mean,” he tells Page Six exclusively.
“So, I was like, ‘OK, it’s her opinion.’ To be honest, from the messages I got on my Instagram and everything, the [viewers] don’t feel that way.”
After Boerner dumped Gomes for new Islander Bryce Fins, she expressed relief at calling it quits with the Brazilian model as she felt their dynamic was “toxic.”
“It was ’toxic’ but she kissed me before I left the villa? So why are you kissing [me] and telling [me] in a conversation that you want to know Bryce, but you still want to know me?” he asks.
However, Gomes doesn’t want to “get in the drama” with Boerner as she pursues a relationship with Fins. “I’m not going to … fight or anything,” he insists. “I like her as a person.”
Still, Gomes can’t help but note how quickly Boerner’s head turned — especially after pressing him about what he might do should a hot new bombshell enter the mix.
“She asked me, like, five or six times, ‘So if another girl comes to the villa, you’re going to turn your head?’ Bryce came to the villa and she turned her head. And I was telling her since the beginning, this can happen with anyone. Feelings can change so much,” he recalls.
“Don’t tell me always, ‘You’re going to turn your head’ — and then you turn your head for the first guy who comes into the villa.”
Another point of contention was Boerner saying she found herself struggling through conversations with Gomes. Despite the pair’s intense physical chemistry, she shared concerns that he didn’t show interest in getting to know her on a deeper level during verbal exchanges.
“I didn’t feel it was one-sided,” Gomes says of his communication with Boerner. “I was asking her normal things. But, in the villa, you’re asking so many things and … sometimes … you don’t have nothing to ask anymore. Your mind is like a blackout and you’re like, ‘I need a break now. I cannot ask you anything,’” he says of the demanding dating process.
“I just felt she wanted me to know her more deeply in the way of many other things. And for me, it’s like, ‘OK, this will come at the right time.’”
Although Gomes’ patient approach didn’t work for Boerner, he remains hopeful that his perfect partner is waiting for him outside the villa.
“I know the perfect relationship will appear when I’m least expecting it. You never plan to fall in love. I’m ready for it when it comes though,” says the Dubai resident. “Right now, I’m just trying to focus on work and when the relationship comes along, I’ll be so happy and will be sure to enjoy my time.”
Until then, Gomes will be watching his new friends finish their journeys on “Love Island USA.”
“Isaiah [Campbell] and Sydney [Paight], for me, is the one [couple who will win],” he says, predicting that the fiery duo will take home the coveted $100,000 prize at the end of the season.
“They fight, they cry. They did everything and they’re still there and they’re still together. If someone walked in the villa, it’s really hard to destroy what they have.”
Meanwhile, Gomes isn’t confident that Boerner and Fins have what it takes to be named “America’s favorite couple.”
“I hope they can go [to the finals], but I don’t think they can win the game,” he says. “I don’t feel they’re going to win the game.”
“Love Island USA” — hosted by Sarah Hyland — is available to stream on Peacock. New episodes drop Tuesday through Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.
