We had a feeling FBoy Island had one last truck up its sleeve, but I’ll admit, I had no idea that finale twist was coming.
On Thursday, HBO Max debuted FBoy Island Season 2’s final pair of episodes—in which this season’s leads, Tamaris Sepulveda, Mia Emani Jones, and Louise Barnard discovered they have the option to take the full $100,000 and leave the island without either of their chosen finalists.
On FBoy Island, three women date their way through a pool of men in search of the so-called “Nice Guys,” who’ve chosen to split the money with their lady love. Should they fall for an “FBoy,” the women will be at their mercy; these men can walk off with the entire cash prize.
But host Nikki Glaser and HBO Max’s producers weren’t about to let us get comfortable so easily. As the women prepared for their final elimination ceremony, Glaser dropped the bomb: in addition to choosing either a Nice Guy or an FBoy, the women could now choose themselves and run off with all the money—just like an FBoy can.
The final choices? Shockers across the board. Mia, who left herself with two FBoys to choose from, seemed bound to leave the show with Staten Island electrician Danny Louisa but chose Season 1 alum Peter Park instead. Louise, meanwhile, chose FBoy Mercedes over Nice Guy Benedict. (Thankfully, both of the women’s picks opted to split the money.)
Tamaris announced her decision last—and to her guys’ visible surprise, this self-described former FGirl chose herself.
During a recent interview with The Daily Beast, the account executive and aspiring model with candy-colored hair said she hopes fans understand that she came onto the show ready to embrace connection—she just didn’t find anything here that felt built to last. She also revealed which of her contestants seemed to know how to play things up for the camera.
Of all the women this season, you seemed to have the strongest strategy for sussing out the FBoys from the Nice Guys. How did you develop such a good FBoy detector?
I think it was just, like, life experience. I typically don’t trust men. Especially coming into Season 2 and knowing that these guys watched Season 1...
They took notes.
They took notes! So now I’m gonna take notes even harder. And at the end of the day, I’m not gonna allow someone to fool me on national television. That’s my mindset. I feel energy, too.
Throughout the season, you were sort of calling Casey on his energy. Like, Why are you talking like that? or Stop smiling like that! You seem to have a very keen sense of when somebody is sort of putting on an air of pleasantness.
Also, you can tell when someone is in front of the camera just acting. And then as soon as the cameras are off, they don’t even have one word to say to you. That’s a red flag to me right there.
Interesting. Were there any people that sort of stuck out that way—that were good for the camera?
Casey is amazing in front of the camera. That guy, sometimes I’m like, “Does he like me? He really likes me! No, but he likes me.” I’m asking the producers like, “Do you think he likes me?”
It’s just like, it’s too perfect. When we did have our off-camera time, it was just different. He still has his girlfriend—the girl that he was talking to on the show, off the show from Season 1 and Season 2. So I’m like, “OK, I’m so happy this is the decision I made.” Now that I’m getting all the tea—and this is what I’m hearing from the other guys—he literally broke up with his girlfriend three days before he went onto the second season.
No!
Yeah. But I was like, “You know what? I was right. I was right!” So, good for me.
I did also wonder, what are the vibes like in the house having two other women trying to navigate the same situation? Did you find that having that support system there made it somewhat easier to figure things out?
At the end of the day, we were in a bubble and had no actual contact with the world. We had each other; that was the only thing we had in our house. And we really had to talk about each and every guy and how they made us feel and what red flags we had. They were a big part of why I actually did what I did [and chose to take all the money in the finale, rather than split it with one of the guys]. I kept going over everything they’d said, everything I’d said...
For me and the ladies, we just stick together as much as we possibly can. Because they kept us separated at the last day, we didn’t know each other’s choices. I would’ve thought that Mia was gonna pick Danny—a hundred percent. And she picked Peter.
How did you arrive at your decision to choose yourself and take the money, instead of splitting it with one of your Nice Guy finalists, Casey or Niko? Was it a trust thing, or also just that you weren’t feeling either of these guys long-term?
If I was gonna pick someone and I didn’t have that third option, then it was gonna be someone that I potentially grow something with. I really thought about it, and I really—other than this show, and other than being in this bubble, I don’t think I could see these guys outside in my real world, really vibing into my life.
I felt like [with Casey], it was more of like, “We’re gonna be a power couple. We’re gonna take over Instagram.” I felt like our conversations were more like that. Never getting to really know me, getting down to the real deep and dirty that my significant other should know about me. And then with Niko, there was something about him that made me feel like he was an FBoy. He came on the show as a Nice Guy, but then again, all these guys watched Season 1...Yeah, they thought I was cool and I was a nice chick and I was genuine, but they weren’t really, really here for me. And as I see them in their real life and how they act, I feel so happy at my decision.
Have you heard from either of them—Casey or Niko—since the show wrapped?
Me and Casey probably spoke a week prior to the show coming out, and then that was it.
How was that conversation?
He was like dealing with the girl.
This is the girl that he had just broken up with days before he went on the show?
Yeah. Like, he left her for Season 1, got back with her after, and then got into Season 2, and then tried to get back with her. I think she finally opened her eyes, I’m not sure.
Obviously you’re not a developer at HBO Max, but I do wonder, do you think that an FGirl Island is on the way?
I mean, I’m the original FGirl now. I’m the first FGirl. And I would hope, because I need to show these girls the way. If they think they’re FGirls, I’m gonna show them the little tricks.
You mentioned being able to read energies. Before we go, I did wonder: What is Tom’s energy like in person?
Tom is probably the only real, genuine Nice Guy. Off-camera, on-camera, he is the same. I wouldn’t say that he changed one bit, because that is him. He wears his heart on his sleeve. I wish that he finds an amazing girl that can, you know, give them that same love back. His energy is intense.
This conversation has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
