It’s The Black Love For Me!

The Unapologetic Black Love Story of Love Island’s Justine Ndiba and Caleb Corprew

The summer of 2020 will be remembered as a year of pain, suffering, and unrest in the call for justice with the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd forever etched on the psyche. Black people had to oscillate between living with the stark reality of what it means to Black in this country while simultaneously finding moments of love and joy. This duality is hard to reconcile, and often comes in ways one least expects.

In September, as summer wound down, such an experience happened as we witnessed the historic win of Justine Ndiba and Caleb Corprew, who became the first Black couple to win on CBS’ reality TV show, Love Island. Yes, the sole Black couple on the island were responsible for bringing joy into our hearts, as they were the definition of #couplegoals. In an industry that all too often portrays Black people stereotypically, playing up to hyper-sexualized archetypes of Black men, or presenting Black women, specifically dark-skinned women, as romantically undesirable, Justine and Caleb, our Queen and King of the Villa, reminded us of why visibly seeing Black love unapologetically represented on television is long overdue and deserves to be celebrated. In an exclusive interview with the beautiful couple, they each reflect upon their Love Island experience, life outside of the villa, and more:

Ralinda: How is life outside of the villa and do you feel pressure to share aspects of your relationship with the public?

Caleb: “It’s amazing to come out and have so many people behind our relationship, almost fueling us at times.” We want people to be happy, and we know that giving insight into our relationship creates a sense of joy for people and we’re figuring out how to let people in and when we need to close the doors to focus on us. We’re having fun learning how to do that.”

Justine: “There is some pressure but we’re figuring out the balance. There has been so much positive support for our relationship that we don’t mind sharing; we love and appreciate all the support.”

Defying reality TV odds and the paucity of air time, Justine and Caleb were crowned the winners as the first Black couple to win in the…