Belle-A on “Love Island” Prep and Stealing From Set

Every “Love Island USA” fan knows that each new season of the hit Peacock show brings otherworldly levels of confrontation, romance, and drama. But what we want to know is what goes on behind the scenes to keep the contestants looking so good all the time. How do they keep their hair looking good 24/7? What happens if someone's on their period? Fortunately, we had the chance to sit down with islander Isabelle “Belle-A” Walker, the first cast member sent home after a recoupling, and she dished on everything from her packing list to the couple she wants to make it to the end.

In her short but memorable stint in the villa, Walker made her first big splash when she announced her kissing rule. “I have that rule of no kissing on the first date,” Belle-A says, “But then when I finally feel comfortable around them and kind of see their intentions, then I feel better enough to go through with it. There's no set-in-stone timing, but I feel it.” Plus, she believes there are other perks. “I've noticed it makes them want it more.”

While Walker had her dating intentions prepped far, far in advance, getting physically prepped for the villa was a different story. “I wasn't given a very big period to prep — I was kind of scrambling. I know that the other girls, when they got there, their nails were done, their lashes were done — they were ready. I kind of went in blindly,” she says. However, she did manage to get her hair done — which she said would have been disastrous if she hadn't had the time. “I have one row of extensions — it's mostly all my hair — but I gave it a little bit of volume. You could even see it throughout the episode, where my extension starts poking out a bit. If I didn't go and see my girl beforehand, it would have been atrocious.”

If she had been able to take some time to get herself ready beforehand, Walker says she would have started out by hitting the gym a bit more. “I probably would have hired a personal trainer. Now I got one because Huda [Mustafa from the show] is a personal trainer, so I could just hit my girl, but beforehand, I would have locked in.” Because contestants basically live in bikinis on the show, it makes periods particularly difficult. Unfortunately for Walker, she had hers the entire time she was on the show.

“I was on my period that whole week,” Walker says. She explained that she would have the other girls in the villa check her for any strings or spots while she did a 360-degree turn, and there was even a moment when she realized that she bled through. The good news? Walker says that because she was mic-ed up 24/7, she was able to talk to production and ask them how bad it was. “They were quick to step in [and] make sure I was OK. They've got tampons, pads, all of the girly things on deck because that is something I kind of forgot to pack.” While she did remember press-on nails and false eyelashes, there were quite a few things she forgot. “I think I packed the lightest out of all of my girls. I know a lot of them brought suitcases and suitcases, and I just brought a few, which is unlike me because usually I go overboard.”

Other's overpacking ended up coming in handy on numerous occasions, like when she ran out of Aquaphor and needed to “constantly” borrow it from Mustafa. The sharing didn't stop at beauty products. “All the girls, they really do end up sharing everything. We were sharing shoes, we were sharing clothes, we were sharing makeup,” Walker says. “Even some of the girls were like, ‘Oh, I haven't worn this, but it will look so good on you.'”

Whatever Walker couldn't borrow, she could usually find from production, who loaded up the villa with everything the islanders would need. “We walked into the dressing room and [there was] Maybelline everywhere.” The villa was also stocked with CeraVe skin-care products and Dyson hair tools. “There's a bunch of drawers in the dressing room and they're all stocked,” she adds. “Usually I wear tinted sunscreen and a little highlighter and put some lashes on and call it good, [but] seeing that they had everything there to create the most perfect canvas, I felt like a kid in a candy shop.”

And although Walker had to leave the villa a lot earlier than she would have liked, she made sure to take a few souvenirs with her to remember her journey. “I don't know if you were supposed to, but right before I walked out the door, I said, ‘I'm taking this, I'm taking that, I'm taking that,' because I deserve it.” Speaking of deserving things, Walker has strong feelings about who she thinks deserves to win this season. “I genuinely love Chelley and Ace both,” she says, referring to Ace Greene and Chelley Bissainthe. “They have my vote; I love them so much. They are amazing on screen and off screen; they're such good people.” We'll just have to wait and see who goes home with the $100,000 cash prize.

Renee Rodriguez (she/her) is a staff writer and social producer for PS. She writes across all verticals, but her main areas of expertise focus on fashion and beauty content with an emphasis on reviews and editor experiments. She also produces social content for the PS TikTok and Instagram accounts.