“The good-byes were really tough. I didn’t wanna cry, and then seeing Gabriel cry made me cry.”
Photo: Ben Symons/Peacock via Getty Images
America: This is on you. After crashing the Love Island USA app to vote on which Islanders should couple up with new bombshells Sol Dean, Jen Terry, and Caleb McDaniel, viewers split Melanie Moreno, Corbin Mims, and Beatriz Hatz from their relationships, rendering them single and vulnerable inside the villa. On Friday’s episode, Ariana Madix then handed Corbin, the lone single boy, the chance to couple up with either Melanie or Beatriz and save just one from elimination. Corbin chose Melanie in an attempt to capitalize on his attraction to her, leaving villa OG Beatriz to say good-bye in an emotional farewell to her castmates and ex-partner Gabriel, a day-one bombshell whom America paired with Jen and who sobbed as he said good-bye to Bea.
Beatriz, however, is much more than just an Islander. She’s a bronze-medal Paralympian who competes in sprinting and long-jump competitions around the world. Though Bea was sad to depart Fiji, she walked away from the Love Island USA villa with a handful of close friendships and a softer sense of self. “We don’t really take stuff personal as athletes, so conversing with people who are nonathletes was very interesting,” she explains. “I needed to learn, like, Okay, this direct communication style needs to be handled more gently.” Which is also why she’d like to see Sincere figure out how to have an uncomfortable conversation sooner rather than later.
How are you adjusting to post-villa life?
It’s going great. I’m just really tired from the time change and lack of sleep, but everything’s amazing back in San Diego with my friends and my dog.
Your dog is so cute.
He’s a big boy; he’s a Saint Bernard.
If the other Islanders had gotten to vote on who went home rather than Corbin choosing, do you think you’d still be there?
Yeah, I believe that I would still be there if the others got to choose.
How are you processing having left the villa? The good-byes looked really emotional.
The good-byes were really tough. I didn’t wanna cry, and then seeing Gabriel cry made me cry. I just couldn’t keep it together anymore and had tears streaming down my face while at the same time, it’s like, “All right, we gotta lock in. I’m not dying, just leaving.”
Were you surprised by Gabriel’s vulnerability when you said your good-byes?
I was very surprised about how emotional Gabriel was. I knew he’d be sad, but I didn’t know that he would cry and feel that deeply. I was just glad it felt reciprocated at the time.
There are fans who seem convinced that there were conversations you guys had that didn’t make it into the edit because they were in Spanish. Did you feel like your relationship with him was pretty well represented?
Obviously, we filmed 24 hours a day, so it’s hard to fit in every chat within that hour of an episode. I think there were a lot of chats that people didn’t see. He and I did have chats in Spanish, but we also had more chats in English.
Did producers ask you to speak mostly in English, or was it up to you guys?
I actually don’t know if I’m supposed to answer that.
On Aftersun, you were talking about having this tomboyish sensibility and that your time in the villa was the most you’ve ever worn dresses. What was packing for this show like? Did you have to shift into a more “traditional” feminine expression?
Yeah, my gosh. It was crazy. I don’t own very many dresses. I was like, Do I have to go shopping? I hit up my friends, and I was like, “Hey, do you have dresses I could borrow?” and they’re like, “Yes, absolutely.” So most of that wardrobe was actually theirs.
Did you have to stick to a dress code?
It was more that we’d be told, “Hey, girls, we’re going for this vibe,” but most of the time the girls are sharing clothes and we’re all hyping each other up, like, “This looks good on you!” We’re all helping each other make decisions on what to wear.
Do you have a different sort of “going out” look when you’re back home?
Yeah, well, especially because I’m in San Diego, it’s a lot more chill. Maybe if I were in Miami or Vegas, I would own a lot more dresses because clubs and bars require that. But in San Diego, I’ll most often be wearing a really cute crop top or an actual going-out top and then some baggy pants and sneakers, or sometimes I’ll throw on little kitten heels. It’s a little bit harder with the prosthetic because the heel height doesn’t go that high, so I can’t be rocking out in four-inch heels.
What do you miss most about being in the villa?
I miss Trinity and Kayda. Those are my girls. I got close with them.
You three were all really funny in different ways — it seemed like you really liked playing off each other.
We have very similar vibes and sense of humor. We meshed well together.
How do you think the experience of being on the show affected how you see yourself?
I do think I grew from this experience. I met people I would have never crossed paths with. I learned how to interact with different kinds of people. I definitely think I came out of there a different person than who went in, and I think that’s gonna be the case for everybody.
You do a lot of traveling as a professional athlete. How is meeting people on Love Island different from meeting through a competition or sport event?
People in athletics are very disciplined, very straightforward, like, “All right, I’m doing this, this, and this. Stay out of the way for this, this, and that.” The communication style is very direct with athletes because we have to be able to take criticism directly. You could be doing block starts and a coach will be like, “Hey, how’d that feel?” You’d go, “I think it felt okay.” And they’d say, “Well, it looked like shit, actually. You need to fix that.” We don’t really take stuff personal as athletes. Conversing with people who are nonathletes was very interesting and I needed to learn, like, Okay, this direct communication style needs to be handled more gently. I’m trying to take that away from the experience and put it to use.
Everyone was pointing out during your good-byes that you were the first to check people there and keep them in line. Have you been doing any of that from home as you’ve kept watching?
I need to go back and watch all the episodes. I’ve been trying so hard because I gotta keep up with what’s currently happening before I see it online.
I feel like you’d be checking Sincere. Like, what’s going on with him and Melanie and Sol?
I feel like he had a lot going on without me really knowing. If I would have known in more detail what he was doing, I definitely would have pulled him aside and been like, “Bro, what are you doing?”
Do you think he’s actually undecided about how he feels, or do you think it’s more strategic than that?
I wouldn’t say it’s strategic. I do think he’s a person with his own feelings, and I think he’s in a situation where he’s being pulled in one direction and in the other. I think he is not wanting to hurt somebody’s feelings, but by trying to move in a way that’s supposed to be considerate, he’s actually hurting both instead of being more direct and making up his mind of whether or not he wants to do this or that. It just stems from being like, “Okay, I don’t wanna hurt anybody.”
And that’s the opposite from the tone you mentioned that athletes take, not being as direct as you’d wanna be to spare someone’s feelings in the long run.
I also think it’s like, I don’t really wanna have this uncomfortable conversation. Hey, man, just say what you gotta say!
What’s been the best piece of feedback or social-media message or text you’ve received since leaving the villa?
My favorite messages that I’ve received are from people saying, “Hey, I recently had an amputation,” or “You made me look at my amputation differently,” or “I have this disability, even though it’s different from yours, thank you for being the disability representation.” I’ve been getting so much love for not only that, but also being a strong female athlete and also being a Latina. These are all little pieces of me, and it’s crazy to see that people love and gravitate toward and see themselves in me. I was really happy to see those messages.
I know it’s early, but it felt like you were already a fan favorite. I talked to a lot of people who were moved by your exit, who were loving your sense of humor and how confident you felt in the villa. It doesn’t seem easy to operate like that on this show.
Thank you. It’s very easy to play the comparison game in the villa. I think we all fall victim to it. We all sit there and go, Wow, I don’t feel the prettiest today, and I’m surrounded by these beautiful girls. So it becomes about making sure somebody else’s beauty doesn’t lessen mine.
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