Cierra's departure follows that of fellow islander Yulissa Escobar, who left the show after videos of her using a racial slur on a podcast in 2021 re-emerged. Yulissa later apologised, saying on Instagram she used the offensive term "ignorantly, not fully understanding the weight, history, or pain behind it".

Love Island USA viewers uncovered a social media post by Ortega in which she spoke about the cosmetic work she had done, and made a racial slur towards the Asian