CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses abuse, eating disorders and suicidal ideation.
Love Island USA contestant Huda Mustafa, 24, has shared some deeply personal stories about her past while facing mixed reactions from fans after her run on the reality series.
The season seven finalist appeared on the Call Her Daddy podcast and revealed how a turbulent upbringing shaped her approach to life — and her time inside the villa.
Huda, who grew up in the US as one of five siblings, explained that her parents immigrated for a better life but money was always tight. “We played with sticks outside. We didn’t have phones till we were like 16, 17. Like, I’m not a privileged child. I was never that,” she told podcast host Alex Cooper.
The most confronting part of her story came when Huda described her father as “extremely abusive”. She recalled specific and traumatic moments that stayed with her: “A vivid memory I have as a kid is like, I don’t even know how old I was, but I remember hearing my dad beating the shit out of my mum in the room.
“I just remember seeing my mum’s face… Like, her glasses were broken, and then I just see him snatch her head back and slam the door.”
Her parents separated when she was in fourth grade, and Huda said she hasn’t spoken to her father in eight years.
“I remember when my dad was at work, we packed up everything and we left,” she told Alex.
“There was times when I was alone with my dad, and there’s things that like my family doesn’t believe me about.”
Home was tough, but school offered little relief. Huda was bullied for being “unapologetically myself”, and revealed that at one point, “there was a point where I wanted to take my own life. I did not want to live anymore”.
She also discussed battling an eating disorder. “I was bulimic. Like, I would literally chew food and then spit it into a trash can just to taste it because I thought I wasn’t skinny enough,” she shared.
Those experiences, she said, triggered her during her time on Love Island USA, especially when behaviours she perceived as hurtful brought back old feelings.
How the internet has responded to Huda
Since sharing her story, Huda has faced heavy scrutiny. Social media has been flooded with both words of support and harsh criticism over her time on Love Island and her behaviour on the show.
Some viewers believe she needs more time to heal before entering relationships, with one stating, “This is exactly why she shouldn’t have went on Love Island. She has a lot of trauma that she needs to deal with before she can have any type of stable relationship. She has to heal but her past doesn’t excuse her behaviour, it’s just the reason for it.”
Another user added, “I understand she has past trauma but trauma doesn’t excuse her actions. It is not just one thing. She can be both a victim in one instance and maybe not an abuser but was highly manipulative.”
Others commented on the lack of empathy online: “I don’t get how people can literally not even take a moment to empathise. She never claimed it’s an excuse to her behaviour but no need to say. People say she needs therapy, I think a lot of people on here do”.
The conversation has broadened outside of just Huda, too. Commenting on TikTok, creator Kiera Breaugh said, “It’s interesting how many times I’ve seen ‘fatherless behaviour’ attached to Huda and it’s like we do end up punishing women for the decisions of men … That becomes their label. It’s not to say that it’s not true — it’s just interesting because people were like, ‘This is how fatherless women behave,’ — well yeah she was abused by her dad.”
Despite the backlash, Huda says she’s grateful for her supporters, and stands by her decision to share her story.
