Pepe revealed he was a professional basketball player in Season 7, Episode 10 of Love Island USA after he joined the show as a bombshell, along with Iris Kendall and Jalen Brown. “I just retired. I played six years of pro basketball,” he said. “Just retired from that. Opened up a gym and an after-school program.”

"I want to first start by addressing not just anyone that I have hurt or deeply offended, but most importantly, the entire Asian community. I am deeply, truly, honestly, so sorry," she said in a lengthy video.

Love Island star Pepe Garcia was a 6'3" point guard who played at Los Alamitos, Cal State Fullerton, and in European leagues before reality TV fame.

"I would never change anything about either of them," she tells PEOPLE, calling them both "amazing men" as she reveals how their connections differed