All Stars’ Olivia Says She and Marcel Have ‘Mutually’ Decided to ‘Stay Friends’ (Exclusive)

Olivia Hawkins is setting the record straight on her relationship status following her exit from the Love Island: All Stars villa.

The 29-year-old was dumped from the South African villa on Jan. 22, as she and Marcel Somerville were voted the least compatible couple by the public. In the days since leaving together, Olivia tells PEOPLE she and Marcel, 39, have “decided to mutually agree to stay friends.”

“We did really get on in the villa,” she says, but they simply “didn’t have enough time together in there before we got thrown out into the limelight.”

They’re still in touch, though, as she says “it’d be a shame to not keep in contact.” She adds: “We still speak every day, but I think we’ve just agreed that it’s more of a friendship.”

Olivia, a season 9 alum, and Marcel, who was on season 3, were only in the villa for nine days before they were dumped, and they didn’t start their journey together. Olivia was coupled up with Luca (season 8) and Marcel was reunited with his ex Gabby (season 3) on day one, as a result of a public vote, and they didn’t start exploring their connection until a few days into the season.

“I feel like potentially we could have developed something being in there,” she says of here connection with the Blazin’ Squad alum.

“It’s just harder coming out after having so little time because then you have people’s opinions and our lives become so busy. It’s trying to find time to see each other. But yeah, I guess we’ll never know.”

Olivia admits she was surprised when she and Marcel were voted least compatible out of the villa — and against Nas (season 6) and Catherine (season 10) and Elma (season 5) and Ronnie (season 11) — considering she thinks that, “at that point in time in the villa, if anyone had voted for the top two most compatible couples, it would’ve been me and Marcel and Ekin-Su and Curtis.”

“So that’s why the Islanders were all so shocked [by our dumping],” she says. “It was a shame, but I feel like all the chaos and the drama happened as soon as we left, so I’m kind of glad I avoided that this time.”

Deciding to go back into the villa in the first place was an “easy decision,” she says. “The timing was right for me. I was in talks to do it the previous year and I’d only been out of the villa for a year, so it was too fresh for me. And I was also supposed to do [Love Island] Games [last year], but for me, it was just a lot in the space of the year. I needed that time out.”

As she transitions back into normal life, Olivia still feels like there’s a camera following her at times and forgets she can “speak freely.”

“I’ve just been trying to kind of get back into a routine, which is hard when you come back because obviously you’re just flung out back into the public [eye].”

She’s also been catching up on the season. “Since we’ve left, it’s gone wild,” she says of how the season is developing. “It’s so strange. I can’t even imagine myself in there right now. I’ve detached myself. I look at them as characters again — it’s very bizarre.”

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New episodes of Love Island: All Stars air daily at 9 p.m. ET on Peacock.