Belle-A Reveals Yulissa's Love Island USA Exit Wasn't Explained To The Cast
"I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye."
Yulissa Escobar may have had one of the shortest stays ever in the Love Island USA villa. In just the second episode of Season 7, the 27-year-old from Miami was suddenly ousted from the dating show. Narrator Iain Stirling announced the abrupt exit midway through Episode 2, although he offered no explanation as to why Yulissa had departed completely off-camera. And apparently, even the cast is in the dark about why she disappeared (even if viewers now have a pretty good idea).
A few days after Yulissa’s surprise exit, Belle-A Walker became the first official contestant to be dumped from the island. In her elimination interview with Vulture, Belle-A revealed that the producers didn’t tell the cast why Yulissa was leaving, nor did they give the contestants time to bid her farewell before whisking her away.
“The producers came in and they told us that she had to go. They didn’t give us any details. We all had questions, but they basically gave us a couple minutes to talk about how much we were gonna miss her and then move on from it, which was definitely difficult,” Belle-A said. “I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.”
The cast may have felt thrown for a loop, but anyone who’s been on Love Island social media has a pretty good idea of why Yulissa was probably asked to leave.
Shortly after Season 7’s cast was revealed, social media sleuths uncovered videos of Yulissa repeatedly using racial slurs while on a podcast. Following the revelation, many Love Island fans began to post their intent to vote Yulissa out at the first opportunity. Now, it seems the show itself has intervened before it could come to a fan vote.
Yulissa wasn’t the only Season 7 contestant to find themselves in hot water with the fandom over past social media activity. Screenshots from a now-deactivated TikTok account allegedly run by contestant Austin Shepard went viral, showing numerous likes on pro-Donald Trump and anti-Kamala Harris videos. (Yulissa was also exposed for being vocally MAGA after her casting announcement). Austin is still part of the Season 7 cast.
Prior to her abrupt departure, Yulissa caused a stir when she matched with Ace Greene on the first night of the season, despite Chelley Bissainthe having also expressed interest in him (and even a prior connection outside the show). Yulissa remained paired with Ace up until her exit, whereupon Iain announced that Ace was now single and a free agent in the dating pool.
