One of the most important takeaways from Love Island USA Season 6’s reunion is that JaNa Craig is an absolute star. During the season, JaNa already proved herself to be one of the greatest Islanders ever. She gave us everything, from hilarious one-liners, stunning looks, shocking moments, and a romcom-worthy love story with Kenny Rodriguez. And, of course, her friendship with Leah Kateb and Serena Page, who dubbed themselves the PPG.
While some fans were disappointed by the reunion, JaNa’s moments were praised all over social media. In addition to being her hilarious and charismatic self, JaNa also beautifully defended her pals tried to get to the bottom of the biggest conflicts, and asked her fellow Islanders productive follow-up questions. Plus, she looked stunning, as always. Her reunion performance left fans begging for her to host something, to get a spin-off, or, at the very least, to appear on another show like The Traitors.
JaNa was iconic throughout the 80-minute reunion and all of Love Island USA Season 6. But here were some of our absolute favorite moments, that unquestionably crowned her the reunion MVP.
JaNa Craig’s got the jokes!
All season long, viewers loved JaNa’s dry sense of humor. Who could forget her flirting with Connor Newsum by mentioning she reads the dictionary, one of the reasons she became a fan favorite from week one? Not to mention greeting Miguel Harichi with a giant plate of eggs, trying to avoid being caught spying by quickly turning around, or revealing she wants to live in a house shaped like her first initial.
Naturally, her humor was also on display at the reunion. Considering the troubling and emotional moments, the laughs were needed. She started by joking that Kenny got ready all by himself, as Love Island USA host Ariana Madix referenced the memes about JaNa needing to help Kenny avoid dressing like a substitute teacher. While watching the montage of the season, she was now able to joke about her rough start.
When asked about the updated status of her and Kenny’s relationship, she deadpanned, “We’re pregnant.” The Islanders guffawed, and even Kenny seemed shocked for a second! Then, in the video footage of the actual announcement that Kenny asked her to be his girlfriend, she threw in, “Where’s my ring?” “No one gets my sense of humor, I’m sorry,” she said to follow up. JaNa, we get it, we love it, please never change!
JaNa pulls out a transcript of receipts!
Get JaNa on a Real Housewives show! She pulled out the most damning receipts since Monique Samuels’ famous binder. By literally reading off transcripts of Islanders’ quotes, she effectively called them out and bypassed excuses. It was a much better method of getting to the truth than producers showing the entire unedited footage from the Andrea Carmona dumping decision. The way she pulled a packet of receipts out from behind a pillow was shocking and hilarious, and the Islanders understandably lost it.
When Andrea started to explain her controversial TikToks, Leah called out the hypocrisy. JaNa went a step further, pulling up the exact words she used on Aftersun. “You also said that she was two-faced,” JaNa pointed out, flipping to page four of her packet. When Andrea tried to say she didn’t have malicious intent, JaNa referenced the comments, adding, “Calling someone two-faced is malicious.” She wrapped things up by saying, “Just keep Leah’s name out of your mouth, boom, done, that’s it. Ari, next question.”
Later, she pulled out the packet again after the full Andrea dumping decision was shown. This time, it was to remind Aaron Evans that he called the girls “idiots” for their choice to save her over Andrea. She also asked him, “Aaron, would you like to apologize to the girls…because after watching that, did you understand where they’re coming from? You called them idiots for sending Andrea home instead of the obvious person, who was JaNa. Remember that?” Reading his own words back to him was the move to hold him accountable, and he did indeed apologize. Meanwhile, Ariana beamed with pride.
JaNa doesn’t have a poker face (and we love her for it)
One of the many reasons JaNa is such great TV is that she is so expressive. Same with her fellow PPGs Leah and Serena. After all, she did become a meme, thanks in part to Leah’s timely photo-taking.
Some of the reunion cutaways didn’t make sense. Other contestants barely appeared on camera. But JaNa always gave us something every time it cut to her. When Coye Simmons spoke up to apologize for what he said about her and Kenny, JaNa kept a mostly blank expression, throwing in a bit of skeptical side-eye.
We could’ve watched every single one of JaNa, Leah, and Serena’s expressions during the part where Aaron finally came clean to Kaylor Martin at the reunion. JaNa’s hushed “Jesus….” as she grabbed her popcorn perfectly reflected how the audience reacted watching at home. The cuts to her watching intently while eating said popcorn as Kaylor finally told Aaron off made the cathartic moment even better. Not to mention, her shouting “That was beautiful Kaylor!” after all was said and done. Also, shout out to Serena’s “queen girl p*ssy boss” side comment.
JaNa supports her Love Island USA girls (and vice versa)
To quote Ariana, sometimes it does need to be Friendship Island. In general, girl power was one of the many reasons this season of Love Island USA was the best show of the year. As JaNa said towards the end, one of the most important lessons to come from the season was, “Always be a girl’s girl.” There’s a reason the PPG are so popular after the show. And why fans are rooting for them to get a spinoff.
Like Serena and Kaylor, JaNa also showed the audience there’s no bad blood with the Casa girls. She and Kenny both greeted Catherine Marshall warmly, with JaNa hyping up how good she looked.
After reading Andrea’s exact quote, JaNa continued to stand up for Leah, reminding everyone of how hurt she was. “She bit her tongue so many times,” JaNa added, backing up Leah’s assertion that she didn’t talk badly about Rob to Andrea, aside from two incidents when she overheard Leah in the shared dressing room. Even in the press before the reunion aired, JaNa emphasized how glad she was that her pal Leah got some much-needed apologies. As JaNa said about her girls while watching the season recap, “When they cry, I cry.”
The choice to show the entire deliberation was controversial. But one thing it made very clear is that JaNa was never really at risk. As Liv Walker said, JaNa is “our mother.” Maybe friendship is the only reason they saved JaNa, but it was surely the right call. The reunion showed how much of a star she is. So, it’s hard to imagine the rest of the season without her. Plus, she found her happily ever after with Kenny.
TELL US – WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE JANA CRAIG MOMENT FROM THE LOVE ISLAND USA SEASON 6 REUNION?
