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- Ariana Madix Accidentally Used a Viral Nickname for "Love Island USA"'s Nic in the Villa: 'He Was Like, What?' (Exclusive)</p>
<p>Julia MooreJuly 2, 2025 at 5:33 AM</p>
<p>Ben Symons/Peacock via Getty (2)</p>
<p>Ariana Madix on 'Love Island USA: Aftersun' (left); Nic Vansteenberghe on 'Love Island USA' season 7</p>
<p>Ariana Madix loves spending her summer in the Fiji sun hosting Love Island USA, but occasionally, being a fan of the show herself means she slips up inside the villa</p>
<p>One such slip-up came recently when she accidentally referred to Nic Vansteenberghe as "Mommy's Little Meatball," which is what some fans started calling him after he wore a T-shirt with that written on it to bed</p>
<p>"I had to remember, like, wait, he doesn't know that we've seen his Mommy's little meatball shirt," Madix tells PEOPLE</p>
<p>Even Ariana Madix gets a little mixed up between what the Islanders know and don't know when she's inside the Fiji villa.</p>
<p>The Bravo star returned as host of Love Island USA for the currently-airing seventh season — she made her hosting debut on season 6 last summer — and has been living it up in Oceania for the last month.</p>
<p>"It's really fun," she tells PEOPLE of her relocation to Fiji for the two-plus months the show is filming. "Even going to work doesn't really feel like work."</p>
<p>It does, though, get a bit confusing for her as the only person who's consistently interacting with the Islanders throughout the season, while she's also watching the episodes in real-time on Peacock and interacting with fans online as they tune in.</p>
<p>On occasion, the Vanderpump Rules alum slips up and mentions a nickname or other viral meme about the cast when she's in the villa.</p>
<p>Madix, 40, reveals there was one such instance of her slipping up and referencing a viral moment on a recent episode.</p>
<p>"It's funny," she says. "The other day, when I came in for the introduction of Casa [Amor], and Nic and TJ were the two guys stood there with no girls [on their hearts] on that first day, and Nic's [heart] was empty and I was like, 'Oh, no, not Mommy's little meatball.'"</p>
<p>Don't you mean Mamacita's Lil Meatball, Nic? 🍝🤭 #LoveIslandUSA pic.twitter.com/3SHtxd54Pa</p>
<p>— Love Island USA (@loveislandusa) June 18, 2025</p>
<p>The nickname was a reference to an eye-catching T-shirt Nic Vansteenberghe wore to bed one night in the villa that simply said "Mommy's Little Meatball."</p>
<p>Fans began referring to the 24-year-old as "Mommy's Little Meatball" after that episode aired — and Madix accidentally did, too, which she says left Nic looking visibly confused.</p>
<p>"I had to remember, like, wait, he doesn't know that we've seen his Mommy's little meatball shirt," she says. "He was like, 'What?'"</p>
<p>Nic is also the culprit behind one of the season's most "unforgettable" moments in Madix's eyes.</p>
<p>"Mommy's little meatball" is also who Madix thinks of when asked about a moment from season 7 that sticks out in her mind.</p>
<p>"Oh, my gosh. Honestly, I'll never get over 'Mommy? Mamacita,'" she says. "I can't — I just think it's the funniest thing. It's a lot of these little moments I feel that are so fun."</p>
<p>The moment she's referencing came earlier this season — and even before the "meatball" shirt was worn — when Huda Mustafa confided in Nic about the fact that she is a mother to a 4-year-old daughter.</p>
<p>The "Mamacita" interaction is arguably the season's most viral moment, with Nic's hilarious reaction to Huda's confession garnering the attention of stars as wide-ranging as Demi Lovato, Jennifer Lopez and Gordon Ramsay.</p>
<p>Another standout moment from this season came with the twist she introduced for Casa Amor.</p>
<p>Aside from Nic's "Mommy? Mamacita" moment, Madix says that "the way we did Casa this year" was "unforgettable" to her.</p>
<p>Ben Symons/Peacock</p>
<p>Cierra Ortega and Nic Vansteenberghe on 'Love Island USA' season 7</p>
<p>"I love that we gave the Casa people some agency," she says, referring to the fact that every Islander was deemed single from the get-go, regardless of their prior relationship, and had to couple up with a new person for the week — or risk being dumped.</p>
<p>"We really didn't single anybody out as a villain, which I feel like so many people always want to do with the Casa people," Madix, who partnered with Instacart to help fans order the ultimate viewing party spread (if you're wondering, her go-to's are Sancerre, Cheez-Its and pimple patches!), says. "And I'm like, 'Actually, no, you're all coupled up.'"</p>
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<p>New episodes of Love Island USA drop every day except Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Peacock.</p>
<p>on People</p>
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