Two Love Island USA alums made this lineup: Bryce Alakai, who won Season 8, and Nic Vans, who finished second on Season 7 in 2025 alongside Olandria Carthen. Vans, born Nicolas Vansteenberghe and introduced on the show as a Floridian, started chasing DJ work after he left the villa that July, calling himself a wannabe DJ, and played his first festival set at Escape Halloween that October. "I want to be seen as Nic the DJ, not Nic from Love Island," he told Denver's Westword in December, when he'd played all of three shows.
His first release came in February 2026: a remix of "3AM" by Łaszewo, the California electronic-pop trio that's also playing Ubbi Dubbi, put out through Carter Gregory's Plot Twist Records and executive produced by Vans with Warden & Bloom, all pumping synths, sub-bass and trap-pop hi-hats. Dancing Astronaut had his ticket sales past 10,000 by then.
An original, "Nothing's Better Than This" featuring Cate Downey, followed in October. He bills what he plays as progressive house and dance pop, and the show billed him as a registered nurse.