Huda Mustafa breaks silence on ‘Love Island USA’ drama, says haters’ ‘opinions are valid’
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Huda Mustafa breaks silence on ‘Love Island USA’ drama, says haters’ ‘opinions are valid’
Huda Mustafa appeared on “Call Her Daddy” on July 17. She opened up about her abusive childhood and struggles with mental health. Mustafa said she is “still processing everything” after the “overwhelming” process of starring in the hit Peacock series. The 24-year-old mom from Raleigh, North Carolina, was bullied relentlessly by viewers during Season 7 of “Love Island USA” She said she was “never” a “privileged child” and that her father was “extremely abusive” toward her and her siblings while growing up. “If you start focusing on negative things, negative things in your life will happen. If you focus on positive things, positive things will happen,” Mustafa told Vulture in an interview published July 16. “I was expecting worse than what I received coming out of it, and it was a pleasant surprise,” she said of her experience in the villa. “There were things he said that made me feel a certain way. He told me he wasn’t possessive, and then I hear him be possessive”
The “Love Island USA” star told Vulture in an interview published July 16 that she is “still processing everything” after the “overwhelming” process of starring in the hit Peacock series.
“You come into the villa, your whole life is different, then you come out, and your life is completely changed,” Mustafa told Vulture. “There’s so many things you have to do: making sure my family’s good. You have a lot of meetings, and you have to have a lot of interviews. I’m very thankful. It is more than I could’ve ever imagined.”
In the summery reality TV dating competition, (which streams daily), singles attempt to couple up and compete for a $100,000 prize. Mustafa became a meme-worthy breakout star immediately, during her on-air comments with fellow contestant Nic Vansteenberghe when she said “I’m a mommy … I’m a mom” in a viral moment.
People can’t stop talking about Huda on ‘Love Island.’ Will we ever learn our lesson?
During Season 7 of the show, the 24-year-old mom from Raleigh, North Carolina, was bullied relentlessly by viewers, which received a stunning rebuke from host Ariana Madix who told fans not to go “on islanders’ pages and saying rude things.”
While the former contestant, who boasts the most Instagram followers of her fellow islanders, noted that “there’s people that do” hate her and “their opinions are valid,” she praised her fans for their support.
“In the villa, I was expecting worse than what I received coming out of it, and it was a pleasant surprise. It almost felt like a reward for everything I went through,” Mustafa said. “Coming out and seeing so much love and support, it’s like, ‘Thank you for making me feel validated and reassuring me that you love me and that I’m a good person and that you see me.’
“Everyone’s obviously entitled to their own opinion, so if you don’t like me, you don’t like me,” she later added.
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During the season, heartthrob Jeremiah Brown and Mustafa stuck together immediately, despite Ace Greene accusing him of love bombing during a conversation with Taylor Williams. The pair only ended their relationship after America voted to have Brown pair up with Iris Kendall, a bombshell contestant who joined the show during Week 2.
In the Vulture interview, Mustafa agreed that Brown was “love bombing” her on the show and said “the way he was treating me was very apparent to me and it was very apparent to others.”
“There were things he said that made me feel a certain way. He told me he wasn’t possessive, and then I hear him be possessive,” the influencer told Vulture. “He told me that it’s OK for me to do more, and then when I do more, it’s too much.”
Still, despite everything that happened, Mustafa continues to keep a positive outlook: “If you start focusing on negative things, negative things in your life will happen. If you focus on positive things, positive things in your life will happen.”
Huda Mustafa appears on ‘Call Her Daddy’ with Alex Cooper
Mustufa also appeared on the July 17 episode of “Call Her Daddy” to discuss her experience in the villa with host Alex Cooper.
During her interview, Mustafa opened up about sensitive topics including her abusive childhood and struggles with mental health, as well as how she was “bullied in school.”
She told Cooper that she was “never” a “privileged child” and that her father was “extremely abusive” toward her and her siblings while growing up, recounting how her family left her dad when she was young.
“I kept a lot of things to myself, and then there was a point where I got really scared,” Mustafa said. “I remember calling my mom, saying, ‘Please pick me up, please pick me up.’ She was like, ‘What’s wrong? I can’t. I have to get you tomorrow.’ She was working three or four jobs.”
“I don’t want to say grooming,” Mustafa said, but admitted that “there were a lot of things that were happening,” telling Cooper she “never really had a father figure growing up that way at all.”
Contributing: Ralphie Aversa, Alyssa Goldberg, Taylor Ardery