Huda Mustafa’s 2018 headshot, via the Playmakers website.
A triangle native became the center of drama, national discourse and a few memes on the latest season of Love Island USA, which aired its finale on Sunday, July 13.
Huda Mustafa, a Raleigh fitness coach who graduated East Chapel Hill High School in 2018, gained internet notoriety for a number of viral moments throughout her time on the show. Although she was not one of the winners, she did make it all the way to the finale.
Love Island is a reality dating show in which young single men and women spend six weeks at a camera-covered villa in Fiji, entering and exiting couples which are determined in part by voting viewers. Staying in a couple each week is key to remaining on Love Island, as uncoupled singles can be dumped from the show. Contestants can also be voted off by viewers. New contestants are added to the mix as the season progresses to shake up couplings and increase eliminations. Whichever couple the public deems their favorite by the end of the season wins and are given $100,000. The show’s popularity comes in large part from its concurrent filming and airing, allowing voters to have a real-time episode-by-episode impact on the show’s couples.
Mustafa earned the attention of viewers early by revealing that she is a single mother, and then choosing to keep that fact a secret from the male contestants. That decision led to numerous viral moments, with the most popular arising when she tried to confess to contestant Nic Vansteenberghe, only for him to repeatedly misunderstand her admission of “I’m a mommy.”
Another meme spawned from Mustafa’s comments on the show is “My Dream Date.” During a conversation with another contestant describing a date she went on with one of the men on the show, she described the date as “sitting on the beach,” which Mustafa then called her “dream date.” This led to jokes across the internet, with people replacing the description of the date with other activities, such as this example posted by the Durham Bulls.
After numerous switchups, plenty of drama and a twerk-off hosted by Megan Thee Stallion, Amaya Espinal and Bryan Arenales won the competition. Mustafa ended the competition in one of the final four couples, paired with contestant Chris Seeley. Mustafa and Seeley made Love Island history in the finale, being the first couple to make it to the end of the show and then decide to break things off on camera.
During her time as a student at East Chapel Hill High, Mustafa was a part of the Summer Youth Conservancy at Playmakers Theatre. She played Roxy in Cabaret.
Mustafa lives in Raleigh with her daughter Arleigh. She creates fitness content for social media and is a personal trainer. She was the second contestant of the season to hit one million followers on Instagram.
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