Leah Kateb worried about ‘getting disowned’ and hate from family after Love Island USA
Love Island USA star Leah Kateb opened up about how she was worried what the outside world and her family thought while she was on the show
Leah Kateb worried about ‘getting disowned’ and hate from family after Love Island USA
After weeks away from her home and no access to her phone, Leah Kateb didn’t know what her parents were going to think.
The 25-year-old spent the past summer in Fiji appearing on Love Island USA and quickly becoming a fan favorite. She ended up leaving the show with two best friends, Serena Page and JaNa Craig, and a boyfriend, Miguel Harichi.
But she was still worried. Throughout all her ups and downs on the show, especially involving Rob Rausch, she didn’t know how the outside world was perceiving her.
Leah was finally exposed to the outside world after the finale when she and Miguel placed second. “It’s so different from what I thought was going on on the outside,” she told US Weekly.
Unlike other Islanders on the show, she didn’t get to video chat with her family. “Everyone got to speak with their family except for Miguel and I — and Miguel’s family didn’t know that he was on the show,” she shared.
Because she didn’t know what was going on, she would anxiously ask producers: “Did I get disowned? Does my family hate me?”
Thankfully, she didn’t. The star returned home to Los Angeles after the show and filmed TikToks with her family and various animals. She also didn’t expect the love she got after the show.
“I’m really grateful everyone gave me a lot of grace,” she says. “It’s cool that it’s more acceptable to show all of those parts instead of, ‘Oh, my gosh, she said one horrible thing, so now she’s a villain.’”
Though she called the show a “perfect disaster,” Leah gushed over her new beau that she met on the show. “I have never met someone like Miguel. I think he is the best guy and only guy ever for me,” she said, “I think it’s wild that we met on this show.”
“I never get tired of him and I feel like he offers me so much insight. He is really wise and he calms me down in so many ways,” she continued, “I feel like he always has me laughing and he is so patient with me and very receptive to everything. He is the happiest, most pure person.”
