NEED TO KNOW
Beatriz Hatz was the second contestant to be dumped on Love Island USA season 8 and was sent home during episode 9
Back from the island, she opens up exclusively to PEOPLE about the “hardest part” of life in the villa and the connections she made
New episodes of Love Island USA air every day except Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Peacock
Love Island USA season 8 contestant Beatriz Hatz is revealing the “hardest part” about life on the show.
The Paralympian, 25, was the second contestant to leave the villa on season 8 of the reality dating show. Now back from Fiji, Beatriz opens up to PEOPLE about her time as an islander, the connections she made and whether she’d ever reignite any sparks with her fellow contestants.
At the beginning of the season, Beatriz, who won a bronze medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games in the long jump, formed a connection with Sean Reifel. Shortly after, she got swept into the arms of bombshell Gabriel Vasconcelos when he entered the villa.
During episode 9, fan votes rearranged the coupling. Jen Terry was paired with Gabriel and Beatriz was left single, vulnerable and eventually was dumped from the island.
Though she expected the connection between Gabriel and Jen to grow, Beatriz says she was “caught off guard” seeing them kiss the same night she left the villa. Even so, she understands how Love Island works and says it would be “crazy” to assume that Gabriel would wait for her.
“I’m not like that. [The kiss] was the only thing that caught me off guard,” she says. “I can’t really fault him for moving on. You’re in the villa, you’re supposed to. I don’t want to harp on that, and I don’t want it to change the way that I viewed him.”
When asked whether she would “rekindle anything” with Gabriel if he left the villa single, Beatriz says she “would be cordial.”
“I don’t know if we would rekindle anything,” she says. “I know I left and I said, ‘Oh yeah, you know where to find me,’ but he seems to be building a strong connection currently and that’s all I would want for him. So who knows what’s going to happen.”
Beatriz Alexa Hatz on ‘Love Island USA’
Credit: Ben Symons/Peacock
As for her relationship with fellow Islander Melanie Moreno, who had a small issue when bombshell Corbin Mims entered the villa, Beatriz says there is no bad blood between them. In fact, they made amends after their conflict and bonded over their “cultural similarities.”
“We had talked about whatever happens, we know what happened in the villa,” Beatriz tells PEOPLE. “People outside of this are going to have their own narrative to spin, but we know what happened.”
She continues, “We did develop our own friendship just as I did with all the other girls. I think being in this high emotional state and in the villa, it is a pressure cooker. And I think what Melanie taught me was how to communicate in a blunt, but maybe softer, way. She taught me that that’s what I need to do with other people moving forward.”
Coming back stateside from filming in Fiji and seeing the fan response on social media has been a “crazy” experience, Beatriz says. “Everybody is so kind,” she adds. “Obviously, you’re going to get hate when you’re in this space, but it’s like, ‘Man, love me or hate me, I’m just me.’ And at the end of the day, the day got to end and why do I care what people that don’t know me are hating on me about?”
“I know that my friends and family love me, and that’s the most important thing,” Beatriz continues. “The people out there that do show me love and support, I love that too. And it’s great.”
One reason she became a fan favorite is the way she opened up about her insecurities in the villa. On the show, she expressed that she didn’t enjoy dressing up and getting glam like the other ladies.
“Wearing dresses every day and having to do my makeup in the daytime and the nighttime was very surprising,” she shares. “I think I don’t really wear a lot of makeup in the daytime because I’m working out all day. I’m on the track, but then maybe when I go out at night out with my friends, I’ll throw on some pants, some baggy pants and a cute crop top and maybe some sneakers or some cute kitten heels. I’m pretty low-key.”
Beatriz Hatz with Gabriel Vasconcelos on ‘Love Island USA’
Credit: Peacock
She says the “hardest part” was feeling uncomfortable with some of the outfits she wore on the show. “I can’t move the way I want. You have to sit differently,” she says. “I think also it was just hard because I was the most athletic girl in there and seeing that the rest of them were able to fall into this soft feminine role, it made me feel maybe even a little bit more of a tomboy because I didn’t have my friends to relate to.”
She admits being in the villa made her “play this comparison game.”
“I think that’s what really got to me the most was maybe if I was just softer and not as strong-headed, maybe if I was a little bit girlier than the boys would like me. And those were thoughts that crossed my mind. But then at the same time, I reeled it back in and I realized I’m that b—h. Why do I care? What the f–k?”
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But she got her mindset in a good place in the end. “I really sat down and I was like, ‘Wait a damn minute. I have a bronze medal and I’m a professional athlete. If these guys don’t like me, then they don’t deserve me. I don’t need to change or be girlier. Maybe these guys need to be more masculine.'”
New episodes of Love Island USA air every day except Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Peacock.
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