“Love Island USA” Season 7 has come to a close with its reunion special, firmly cementing the show’s status as one of the best reality dating shows around. As expected, there was ample drama, including Bryan Arenales confronting rumors that he cheated on Amaya Espinal. (The couple has since broken up.) However, the biggest “feud” to surface, between co-host Andy Cohen and streaming giant Netflix, came completely out of left field.
Huda Mustafa broke up with Chris Seeley during the show’s Season 7 finale and was recently spotted on the “Weapons” red carpet with Louis Russell, a former contestant on “Too Hot to Handle.” (No word on what the alleged couple thought of the horror flick Looper’s review called “gruesome and unsettling.”) Ariana Madix asked about their potential new relationship, but Mustafa completely shut the conversation down. “It’s Netflix,” she answered. “I’m not allowed to talk about it.” During the reunion special, Cohen pressed her further on the topic, but she remained adamant that she legally was unable to discuss it, so Cohen ended the chat by stating, “Okay. Tell Netflix this was the number one streaming show of the summer.”
It’s a playful jab at Netflix, which responded by briefly changing its X bio to “DON’T @ ME IDK!!!” While “Love Island USA” airs on Peacock, Russell was most recently on Season 3 of Netflix’s “Perfect Match,” which is the perfect show for fans of “Love Is Blind” to watch. The new “Perfect Match” season aired episodes from August 1 to 15, and the “Love Island USA” reunion was filmed on August 12. Therefore, it seems Mustafa was legally bound not to spoil the finale, where Russell clearly didn’t wind up with anyone from that series. But that’s far from the end of this drama…
Huda Mustafa called out the Love Island reunion hosts later on social media
Reports of a relationship between Huda Mustafa and Louis Russell circulated on July 31 when they were seen on the red carpet together, which was before the new season of “Perfect Match” even aired. Fellow “Perfect Match” contestant Rachel Recchia called Russell out for not waiting a few weeks longer before getting rumors swirling, but now that both reality shows have ended their respective seasons, things can go back to normal, right?
Nope! Following the airing of the “Love Island USA” Season 7 reunion, Mustafa posted to her TikTok story, which has since been deleted, about the controversy. She wrote, “I prefer to share details about my relationships on my own terms, not for a TV show it has nothing to do with. Repeated pressure to open up, especially when it’s excessive, makes me uncomfortable, and I’d appreciate if that could be respected. But you’ll edit out the amount of times you asked and tried making others answer for me.” The clip ends with a quick glimpse of Russell, seemingly confirming that the two are an item. This comes on the heels of Russell posting his own relationship tease by uploading a video on August 18 of a woman’s hands with butterfly tattoos (like those Mustafa has) holding onto his face.
All of this begs the question as to what Mustafa could legally talk about, since her TikTok story doesn’t reference a legal arrangement with Netflix. According to her, there are a lot more Andy Cohen questions than those that fans saw on the reunion special; perhaps an extended cut would reveal just how many times she was asked about her new beau.
