It’s clear to anyone with a phone that Love Island USA has grown into a cultural phenom with a monstrous fan base and viewership. It’s led to post-villa influencer careers, with thousands, if not millions, of followers waiting for you after your flight home from Fiji. Season 7 contestant Belle-A Walker experienced that pandemonium firsthand. But, like many on a dating competition show, her time was cut short. She was dumped from the villa on Day 6 after her partner, Nic Vansteenberghe, chose to couple up with new bombshell Cierra Ortega during the first recoupling of the season.
In previous years, a first boot might not become the diamond of the season, but thanks to Peacock’s Love Island USA spin-off: Beyond the Villa, Belle-A has gotten a second coming. And the shift is something she’s still learning to embrace.
Beyond the Villa season 2 started airing mid-April and had its final episode last week. Since then, the 22-year-old has gained almost 100,000 new followers across her socials, largely because of the show, rounding her out to 1.1 million on TikTok and 953,000 on Instagram. Between her viral quotes and the friendships formed (and broken), Belle-A is heading into this summer with a newfound appreciation for her time on Love Island USA.
I caught up with her to chat about summer fashion trends, Beyond the Villa season 2, and the advice she’d give to the Love Island USA season 8 girls we’re set to meet very soon.
What are a few summer fashion trends you’re loving right now?
Beaded tops and anything bedazzled, and you can't go wrong with matching sets. I will forever be a baggy pant, tiny top girl, too. I also feel like people really veered away from waist chains, but I will die on that hill.
With summer almost here (and as a resident beach girl), what are your favorite swimwear styles?
I’m a little bit weird when it comes to swimwear, because I love a basic triangle bikini, but that really just goes back to the tan lines. I love the fun style bikini tops, and I wish I could be the girl to rock those all the time, but I have hundreds and hundreds of bikinis, and the first one I go for when I hit the pool or the beach is always a triangle bikini. Gotta keep those tan lines consistent.
When you were preparing for Love Island USA, what were you thinking about when shopping for a bathing suit that’s meant to be worn all day?
So thank god for me, before Love Island, I was living in Hawai‘i, so I was already in a bikini, 24/7. So unlike other girls who had to go out and buy a bunch of bikinis, I just had to open my closet and fill my suitcase.
One thing I was really sad about was I tried to bring a bunch of locally made bikinis, support Hawai‘ian brands, and before I went into the Villa, they confiscated all of them. They said the patterns were too loud for the cameras or copyright issues so that made me pretty sad. I wasn’t even able to fully express myself in my bikinis when I went on the show.
After leaving the Villa so early, did you have expectations for your journey to continue the way it did on Beyond the Villa?
No, I was just stoked to be around the other Islanders and really get to know them on a deeper level. And hopefully form those friendships and bonds and further the relationships that I had. I truly wanted to get to know the people that I hadn’t yet.
What has it been like the last few weeks of BTV airing and seeing your fan base grow?
It’s so unreal to me. I went to a basketball game, and I was looking around in the arena. It was 20,000 people. And it just put it in perspective for me how many supporters I have. I was just thinking like, Wow, that is a humbling thought that there are that many people out there that support me and love me. It just fills my heart more than anything. The last few weeks has just been soaking it all up. I’ve been loving going through my DMs and replying to people who have similar stories or personalities, similar family lives or lifestyles, and just people who see a part of themselves in me on that screen.
What are you excited about moving forward now that BTV is done?
I just want to be the perfect embodiment of kindness and love. I love the way I love because of the way God loves me. And so I want to shine and spread that to as many people as possible. What that looks like, I’m not sure yet. I do want to build a brand. I’m also going to start streaming pretty soon, so I’m really looking forward to that. I feel like my supporters see a cut-up, edited version of me. But I think streaming will really just break that barrier and allow them to see an even more real version of who I am.
There’s been a ton of fan edits made to the things you’ve said on BTV, that moment with Iris, where you say, “That’s you, but for me, I’m going to be kind.” What has seeing your words spread on the internet been like?
I can’t really quite wrap my mind around it, because I think the things that I said weren’t even really that deep. But I was in the car with my brother, who was swiping on TikTok, and he was like, “Man, people are quoting you like you’re a philosopher or something.” I’m like, “Whoa.” [Laughs] People are going crazy. But it’s really, really sweet.
Now that season 7 is completely wrapped, Beyond the Villa is done, what are your relationships like with the cast now that you guys can leave this part of your life behind and start a new journey?
Every single person that makes up the cast will forever hold a special place in my heart. No matter whether we talk or we’re not on good terms whatsoever. We are truly bonded by such a unique experience that such a small part of the world will ever get to experience. I do think that that sets us apart and bonds us together in a very unique way.
But, you know, moving forward, I am learning to focus on the people who pour into my cup and protecting my peace. My vision was so wide before, and I think I went into Beyond the Villa with a very naive mindset that everybody could be best friends and be this big, happy family. I learned pretty quickly that that wasn’t the reality. And as an adult who's growing and learning, I've learned to accept that not everybody has to be friends, and that's okay, that is life. You have to focus on the ones who focus on you.
In two weeks, we are getting Love Island USA season 8. What are some fashion tips you’d give to a girl about to leave for the Villa?
I think it’s very important for the next cast to express their own sense of style. It’s easy to get caught up in the trends and what you think the viewers want to see. But if somebody goes on there and expresses themselves, puts their own character in the way they dress or the way they accessorize, you might be the next trendsetter.
If you are shopping for the show to match the current trends, you’re going to get left behind because you’re on that island for three months, and those trends are going to be done already. Stay true to your own sense of style and your own sense of fashion.
Aiyana Ishmael is the style editor at Cosmopolitan magazine. In her work, Aiyana focuses on the culture of fashion and how it intertwines and shapes the zeitgeist. She is an award-winning journalist from Miami, Florida, and a graduate of the historically Black university, Florida A&M. She is a 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30: Media honoree, and her debut romance novella PASSING GAME is set to release March of 2027 (831 Stories/Simon & Schuster).
