Love Island USA’s Pepe Addresses Ex Iris’ Reconciliation with TJ

Pepe Garcia is speaking out after ex Iris Kendall reignited her romance with TJ Palma.

During an appearance on the Sept. 25 episode of Sorry We’re Cyrus, Pepe, 27, shared his perspective on his breakup with Iris, 25, and the rumors of infidelity that followed. Pepe said the pair, who met on season 7 of Love Island USA and placed fourth in the July 13 finale, were hit with speculation about their relationship almost immediately after leaving the villa.

“I feel like the fans, although they are amazing, they do want to continue to play the season along,” he explained. “They don’t want it to end, because it is just an abrupt ending, and you’re just like, ‘Okay, so what’s next?’ And I’ve noticed that just anything — anything that they can kind of potentially piece five things together to make a story — they’ll do it.”

Calling the public attention a “double-edged sword,” Pepe explained that it has been difficult to ignore outside chatter, especially when it isn’t true.

“My situation it’s very weird because we got off the island and [Iris] had a cheating scandal,” he claimed, referring to photos captured by TMZ of Iris and her ex at the time TJ, 23, hugging the night she returned home from the show.

Representatives for Iris did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment.

“I just said, ‘You know, it’s day one, I don’t think anybody deserves hate,’” Pepe recalls. “And obviously her messages were blowing up with hate. Mine were blowing up with, ‘Get out of there. Leave her.’ I don’t think anybody deserves that.”

At the time, Iris told PEOPLE that she wanted to have proper closure with TJ without cameras, especially because his elimination left them with little time to say goodbye in Fiji. She also admitted she wanted him to hear her explanation about why she coupled up with Pepe so soon after TJ’s exit knowing it looked like she moved on without grieving the loss of their connection.

Pepe claimed he “had her back on that one,” and the couple seemingly remained close for the next month. At the Aug. 25 reunion, which was filmed two weeks prior, Iris and Pepe revealed that they weren’t putting a label on anything yet, but confirmed they were exclusive. 

Around the time that the reunion aired, however, allegations that Pepe cheated began to circulate. On Aug. 24, they even unfollowed each other on Instagram. 

“Through everything, to not have that same support of like, just her deciding let’s just not say anything about it,” Pepe said of the aftermath of his cheating scandal, which he denied in an initial statement and again during this podcast.

Shortly after he and Iris split, she stepped out holding hands with TJ. The two have continued to spend time together, confirming their reconciliation in a series of social media posts.

Pepe said he didn’t know how to address the situation “without it coming out as trashy or defensive or attacking,” so he decided to stay quiet and “let people think what they want to think.”

“I know the truth,” he added. “I know what actually happened, and just let people believe what they want to believe until I’m able to actually say what I want to say without it coming off as offensive or attacking someone or or defensive.”

“It’s a weird situation ‘cause then she goes and is now back with who she had a cheating scandal with,” he then quipped. “People want to play into those roles of like, she’s on top and I’m on the bottom, and then this happens. Like, can we not understand? How do you just jump from one person to the next? And the next person she jumped with is someone that apparently she did something with and this isn’t clocking to people?”

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Despite his urge to respond to fan comments with his thoughts, Pepe acknowledged that is “just not the right way to do it.”

“You deal with it,” he said. “My friends, my family, I’m getting a bunch of hate. Even the dog, I don’t know why, but the dog’s getting hate. And it does suck, and you have to deal with it and your family has to deal with it, your friends have to deal with it. It’s like, they don’t have to be involved.”

Pepe maintained that he “did not” cheat on Iris, saying: “But again, the media is going to play into whatever they want to play into. And that’s okay. Let them. If they want to drag it along, they can drag it along. And if they want to believe a narrative that’s false, then knock themselves out.”