‘Love Island USA’ Star Huda Mustafa Explains Her Infamous Crash-Out: “At Least I Kept It Real”

Huda Mustafa was one of the more controversial figures in Love Island USA Season 7. The 24-year-old fitness guru quickly staked her claim over fellow OG Islander Jeremiah Brown when she entered the villa back in June, providing leeway for America to shake things up when it came time for the first vote. A crash-out is what voters wanted, and a crash-out is what voters got when Mustafa, one day after being intimate with Brown, was put on the chopping block as he was re-coupled with bombshell Iris Kendall.

When Decider caught up with Mustafa via Zoom, she explained the different factors that went into her emotional reactions, from not eating enough, to not being able to work out. The mom-of-one—who described herself as a “chill bitch” in the real world—also said there were “a lot of things that weren’t shown” that would have better explained the way she reacted in certain situations.

“There are so many people that freaking crash out alone at home and then they’ll sit there and be like, ‘I don’t really care,'” Mustafa said. “But God forbid I did it on national television. I’m sorry, at least I kept it real.”

While Mustafa and Brown didn’t work out and he was ultimately sent home in Episode 18, she was able to form a newer, arguably stronger connection with Chris Seeley after Casa Amor. However, their relationship came to an end in the finale episode as they were being serenaded over a candlelit dinner just before they were crowned third-place winners. “That shit was comedic as hell … That shit had me dead on the floor,” Mustafa recalled. “I was just like, “What? I’m literally in the middle of crying and [she’s singing] ‘Moon River.’”

Mustafa also talked about reuniting with her daughter, having her viral “mamacita” scene reenacted by celebrities, and what she would’ve done differently with Brown. Check out the full interview below.

DECIDER: First off, how excited were you to finally talk to your daughter this week? What was that reunion like?

HUDA MUSTAFA: I cried when I saw her for the first time. I called. She was asleep because of the time difference. Her dad flipped the screen and I saw her sleeping and I just was bawling my eyes out. I didn’t even speak to her yet and I was just bawling. I couldn’t wait until the next day to talk to her on the phone. I finally did and I was just crying. I was like, “My baby!” She misses me so much. She’s like, “Mommy, I miss you.” I’m like, “I missed you too.” It gave me so much reassurance. She misses me and she loves me. I’m a good mom and she knows that. She loves me to death. It’s just the biggest reward ever. I love her so much. That is my best friend. That is my twin. She’s my ride or die. I love her so much.

Aw. I’m sure you’re so excited to get home to see her.

Hell yeah! I’m so excited. She’s out of town. She wasn’t gonna be home if I was home anyway, so I extended my trip in LA. I was like, “Alright, let me wait until she gets back and I’ll get back when she gets back.” So that’s kind of the plan right now. And I’m gonna celebrate her birthday.

Photo: Getty Images

I have had so many videos of you singing come up on my TikTok and you are so good! Why wasn’t that something you talked about more in the villa? Or was it and we just didn’t get to see it? 

Oh, I sang all the time in the villa. All the time. The people on the mics would always be like, “You sing so well.” I’m like, “Thank you.” I would be in the shower just singing my heart out. There’d be times where we would have to be separate. I think I was sitting in the bathroom because that was my location of where I had to sit, and people were walking past in the hallway and I would sing and people would be like, “You can sing.” I’m like, “Oh, shit. I didn’t know you were walking by.” I would sing all the time in the dressing room. Me and the girls would always do sing-alongs, especially on chill days. We would play music and we’d just sing our hearts out. We used to do dance-offs. It was a fun time. I’m such an arts kid, so it was really fun for me. 

I want extended versions of these episodes so that we can see all of that. 

I know, right? No, we would sing all the time. We literally said we should make our own girl group, like, a girl band. Because we would sing 24/7. 

Your time on the show was really interesting to watch. You began in a couple with Jeremiah, but that came crashing down when America voted to split you guys up. Now that you have your phone, do you feel like you’ve gotten more clarity as to why that vote went the way it did? And how do you feel about that?

Yes, I do. I think there are also a lot of things that weren’t shown as well. I know my narrative and I think things might’ve played out in a way where I looked a lot worse. And that’s OK. I think that there are a lot of factors that made me act certain ways in situations. You’re out of your routine. There are a lot of factors that play into your emotions when you’re in the villa. I’m sure a lot of people know that. I didn’t have my lunch time. I couldn’t work out. I wasn’t eating enough. There were a lot of things where I needed to be in my routine and I wasn’t in my routine. All of those things play a factor into your mental health and how you react to certain things. 

There’d be times I would cry all night and I wouldn’t sleep. There are a lot of things that play into it. So, obviously there are things that I’ve reacted to out of emotion, but there are also a lot of things that weren’t shown in terms of why I reacted to certain things and what exactly happened to make me feel that way. I’m telling you right now, I don’t act that way in the real world. That does not define me as a person. I’m a chill bitch. I don’t give a flying fuck if my man’s at the club. I don’t care. I’m not freaking the fuck out, but there are things in there where it’s like, you feel threatened, you’re out of your routine and you act out of emotion in certain situations, you have a million people in your ear 24/7, a million people that have opinions on your relationship. It’s all of these things where it’s like, “OK, how could you not react in some type of way?” Mind you, do you know how many people crash out at home alone? Do you get what I’m saying? There are so many people that freaking crash out alone at home and then they’ll sit there and be like, “I don’t really care.” But God forbid I did it on national television. I’m sorry, at least I kept it real. At least I wasn’t lying. It was exactly how I felt at that moment. Boom shakka lakka ding dong. There you go. That’s it.

Photo: Getty Images

Listen, we have all crashed out.

Girl, I’m Middle Eastern. In all honestly, we all fucking act like that. If I’m being real, that is us. 

The Jeremiah-Huda relationship feels like it was so long ago. How do you look back on that now? Do you have any regrets or wish you had explored a connection with a different Islander in the beginning?

I wish that I had gotten to know him on a more personal level earlier on and slowed down on the physical aspects. I really do wish that that happened. I think that that changed a lot in our dynamic. You know when a guy gets what he wants? And, OK, now you’re switching up on me. It was kind of like a thing where a guy gives you 100% and then they pull back 20%. They give you another 10%, they pull it back 20%. It was something like that. I could feel it happening in moments. I was clocking it. He was an avoidant and I have anxious attachment. I am the type of person that will go more towards somebody if they’re pulling away from me. He’s the type of person that will pull away. It sucks but it is what it is. I think there were moments where I could feel him pulling away and it triggered me. I was just like, “Are you mad at me?” Like, “Are you OK?” I love checking. I check on people. It’s the mommy in me. I check on everybody and I make sure everyone’s OK. With him, regardless if we’re on good terms or not, I always made sure he was OK. Whether it was on-camera or off-camera, I always made sure this man was OK. No one could say I didn’t care. 

I don’t know his feelings or whatever. I mean, I see what I see on the internet now. I see what was shown, the things that I didn’t know. I saw the possessiveness thing when he told me he wasn’t possessive. There are a lot of things that didn’t add up. It made me realize, “OK, a lot of things weren’t shown to kind of justify my reaction to things.” And it’s OK. That’s the whole point of these interviews and stuff, to define my own narrative and let you know, “Hey, this happened, this happened and this happened.” Whether you believe me or not, this is what went down and that’s my explanation. Did I react perfectly to things? No. Do I think that blowing up and calling people a pussy ass bitch is correct? No. But I had a reaction in a moment and I was highly emotional at that time. I always say that people who act out of anger, it stems from hurt, from being scared, or being sad. Look at babies. They’re sad and scared. They’re not angry. But as you get older, those things turn into things like anger. A lot of things happen in a place of sadness or being scared. And in a moment, I was both. I was both of those things. I’m scared because this man’s pulling away. I am sad because it feels like he’s winning. It’s just a whole thing. I take accountability. Yeah, I could have acted classier. It is what it is, and it played out the way it did. 

Photo: Getty Images

I need to talk about you telling Nic you’re a mommy because the sound blew up. Demi Lovato recreated the scene, Justin Bieber posted you on his TikTok. What did you think of that? Did you ever think that moment would go viral? 

No, I had no idea. It was so funny. I walked into that conversation. I was like, “OK, I want to have this conversation with Nic.” He and I are very goofy individuals. We both have this dynamic where it’s kind of like brother and sister vibes. We joke around a lot. We can’t take shit seriously. It’s kind of like siblings. We just act the same. I don’t know if much of my personality was shown at all. I haven’t watched the show. But I know that me and him, we had a very similar personality in terms of goofiness. I knew that I couldn’t go into this conversation seriously. We can’t take shit seriously. We’ll have a conversation that ends on a goofy note every single time. I wanted to be lighthearted in this conversation. I didn’t want it to sound serious because it’s not serious. I’m proud of being a mother but I wanted to say it in a way where he’s not like, “Oh, shit.”

I just went to him and I was like, “Hey.” He was like, “Hey.” I was like, “So, listen.” He was like, “What’s up?” I was like, “Well, I have to tell you something.” I wanted it to be a funny, fun moment for us. I did not expect it to go viral. I think we both forgot exactly what was said in our conversation. When people were mentioning it, we were just like, “I want to see it because I forgot.” We just forgot that moment. It cracked me up seeing how many people loved that moment. I think it’s just so funny. We were just being ourselves. I thought it was so cool that everybody loved it, including all these celebrities. I was just like, “Wow, all these people I looked up to are using my voice.” That’s insane to me. I didn’t know that me being goofy as fuck and Nic be goofy as fuck could lead us to something like this. It was just really cool. It was a funny ass moment. But yeah, I’m glad that people saw our humor. 

Photo: Getty Images

What was going through your head when you and Chris were in the middle of breaking up and the singer came out? 

That shit was comedic as hell. I see this woman walking up. Mind you, I wear glasses, I cannot see very far. I’m, like, “Is that my sister walking up right now? Is she about to save me?” She’s walking up and the light shines on her and I was like, “That’s not my sister. I don’t know who that is.” When I saw the microphone, I was like, “Is this really happening right now? Are we really doing this?” It’s just awkward silence between me and Chris. It was just such good comedic timing. That shit had me dead on the floor. I was just like, “What? I’m literally in the middle of crying and [she’s singing] ‘Moon River.’” Y’all had me dead. You guys are hilarious for that. That shit cracks me the hell up. 

There were so many moments of you that the internet just ran with – you were really carrying this season on your back!

So I’ve heard. Everyone keeps saying, “Girl, you carried this show on your back. I’m like, “Fuck. It feels like I fucking broke my damn back in the show.” Like, damn. Your girl’s going through it. I was trying my best. That’s all I can say. I was trying my best and I was just being myself.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Love Island USA Season 7 is currently streaming on Peacock.