Photo: Peacock/Jocelyn Prescod/Peacock
On Monday night, the cast of Love Island USA’s seventh season gathered for a two-hour reunion episode — the first time many of the Islanders had seen each other since they left the villa last month. During the episode, this season’s breakout star, Huda Mastafa, weighed in on her tumultuous relationship with Jeremiah Brown, her short-lived fling with fellow finalist Chris Seeley, and her dating life outside the villa. Well, sort of. When the evening’s co-host Andy Cohen repeatedly asked Mustafa about whether she was seeing someone new, the former Islander played coy, citing “legal reasons.”
“I can’t speak about my relationships outside the villa,” she said. “It’s Netflix, I’m not allowed to talk about it.”
“Netflix won’t let you say whether you’re dating somebody?” Cohen asked. “You were on a red carpet with somebody …. Is that someone you’re seeing?”
Again, Mustafa declined to answer. But luckily for us, there’s evidence of the “someone” Cohen referenced all over the internet. This summer, she was spotted dancing with former Too Hot to Handle cast member Louis Russell, who is currently appearing in the third season of Netflix’s Perfect Match. The duo were also spotted in matching Gymshark Fitness T-shirts in London in July, and Mustafa accompanied Russell to the red-carpet premiere of Weapons later that month (which is presumably what Cohen is referring to). Her tattooed hand has since made a cameo on Russell’s TikTok, and Mustafa posted footage of the two on a snorkeling excursion to her Instagram Story. In case that’s not enough, here they are rapping.
Viewers also assumed Mustafa’s nonanswer was due to Russell’s potential contractual obligations to Netflix — his season finale aired on August 15, several weeks after Mustafa taped the LI reunion episode, which probably means he (or anyone else) wouldn’t be able to talk about the details of his love life for spoiler purposes.
But in a TikTok story statement posted after the reunion aired, Mustafa said she preferred to “share details about my relationships on my own terms, not for a tv show it has nothing to do with.” She added that “repeated pressure to open up, especially when it’s excessive, makes me uncomfortable.” As for the Netflix of it all, the streamer changed its bio on X to “DON’T @ ME IDK!!!” in an apparent response to Mustafa’s comment. This might be the most compelling promotional content I’ve seen for Perfect Match all summer.
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