Life looked very different for Chelley Bissainthe this time last year.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Everything she was manifesting for her future existed solely on her vision board: a thriving modeling career, a growing social media presence, major brand deals and a cross-country move from Orlando to Los Angeles to better support those goals. But after joining the Season 7 cast of \u201c<\/span>Love Island USA<\/span><\/a>\u201d last summer \u2014 the <\/span>biggest installment<\/span><\/a> of the American smash series yet \u2014 those ambitions quickly began to materialize before her eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Not long after her time on the show, big-name brands came knocking at Bissainthe\u2019s door (CoverGirl, True Religion and Shea Moisture, to name a few). By then, the fan favorite had grown her social following from a modest 10,000 before \u201cLove Island USA\u201d to more than 2 million once she returned to the real world. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n With that surge in visibility came a wave of opportunities for the former day trader\u2019s star to rise far beyond the villa walls, including appearances on red carpets and at Fashion Week, taking on <\/span>correspondent duties<\/span><\/a>, and developing her own passion projects now that she\u2019s officially relocated to LA \u2014 all things that felt just out of reach before the dating series came along.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cA lot of this, all of this actually, was on my vision board last year in a way where I was like, I don\u2019t know how I\u2019m going to achieve this, but I know if I keep envisioning, if I keep trusting the process, it\u2019s going to happen,\u201d the 28-year-old told celebrity.land during a recent Zoom interview. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n For Bissainthe, trusting the process meant taking a leap and appearing on Peacock\u2019s hit dating show last year, after initially being scouted for Season 6 in 2024. But becoming a reality TV star wasn\u2019t exactly a part of her master plan.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis is one of those things that just came to me. I\u2019m not even putting myself out there,\u201d she explained of the unexpected opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Still, when \u201cLove Island USA\u201d casting reached out to Bissainthe once more about joining the show, she considered it a chance to potentially find love and simultaneously elevate her modeling career. But what she got in return was so much more.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Neely \u201cYUNGCEO\u201d Townes<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Becoming something of an overnight celebrity comes with the territory for virtually <\/span>any \u201cLove Island\u201d standout<\/span><\/a>. When you captivate millions of viewers for half a summer like Bissainthe, fame makes it kind of hard to go back to living a \u201cnormal\u201d life, where fans aren\u2019t clocking your every move online or keeping tabs on you IRL.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n That\u2019s just one of many adjustments Bissainthe has had to make lately, after enduring a drama-filled season rife with <\/span>widely publicized<\/span><\/a> cast controversies<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>toxic fan behavior online<\/span><\/a>. Still, when I ask what she\u2019s most proud of from her experience on the show, Bissainthe doesn\u2019t hesitate to say \u201cspeaking my truth.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI allowed myself to be the most vulnerable I\u2019ve ever been,\u201d she shared. \u201cEspecially in relationships, sometimes I would have a guard up. But I remember telling myself, girl, you want to go find love. So if that\u2019s the case, you want to do things differently. You have to be raw, you have to show your emotions, you have to communicate when somebody got you messed up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cSo in that situation, I was like, OK, let\u2019s be vulnerable,\u201d she added. \u201cNo matter how hard the conversations could be, just let people know how you feel, so no one\u2019s in a gray area.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Neely \u201cYUNGCEO\u201d Townes<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Bissainthe is glammed up to perfection when we hop on Zoom in late January, sporting a fresh bob cut that makes her look every bit refreshed after dealing with a turbulent few weeks of personal drama. A month before, the reality star <\/span>shockingly revealed her split from \u201cLove Island USA\u201d co-star Ace Greene<\/span><\/a>. The OG islanders had been coupled up on and off throughout their season and continued dating after leaving the villa in July, making their relationship official two months later.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Bissainthe kept breakup details to a minimum following her announcement, though she shared that the ex-couple ultimately agreed it was best to part ways.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt really was a tough decision for the both of us and very hard to decide,\u201d she explained on <\/span>SiriusXM\u2019s Page Six Radio<\/span><\/a>. \u201c[There was] a mutual level of respect and understanding that we wanted this to work, but sometimes things don\u2019t work. Couples go through things that are very challenging, and sometimes the best thing to do is just make a decision that needs to be made.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Bissainthe declines to comment on Greene and her breakup for our interview. However, she expressed weeks earlier in an <\/span>X post<\/span><\/a> that she regrets \u201cspeaking publicly about something so personal before I really gave myself the time and care it deserved.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI love & care so much about Ace, & I\u2019m choosing to handle our relationship with more privacy & intention moving forward,\u201d she continued in a <\/span>separate post<\/span><\/a>, adding in <\/span>another<\/span><\/a>: \u201cMoments like these are meant to be worked through in real life.. not online. And right now my priority is peace, boundaries, and protecting what matters to me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI’m a big advocate for not putting yourself in a box and really owning all that you are.\u201d<\/p>\n – Chelley Bissainthe<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n At peace is exactly how Bissainthe seems as she opens up about the new chapter she\u2019s stepping into this year. Ready to move past her reality TV spotlight, she can\u2019t help but perk up when I ask about what\u2019s ahead \u2014 modeling, acting, podcasting, brand collabs and much more, she says. The only question now is which venture she\u2019ll tackle first.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019m a big advocate for not putting yourself in a box and really owning all that you are,\u201d Bissainthe said. \u201cI\u2019m just a multifaceted woman who wants to pursue any and everything, and that\u2019s not a bad thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI have a lot of different passions, and I\u2019m trying to navigate what to focus on first, how to introduce the other, etc., etc.,\u201d she added. \u201cEspecially now, in this time of not even reintroducing myself, but letting people get to know me beyond the show.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Courtesy of Chelley Bissainthe<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n On \u201cLove Island USA,\u201d viewers got to see the full spectrum of Bissainthe\u2019s villa journey, from navigating different connections and castmate drama to facing \u201cmean girl\u201d allegations and even racism from the show\u2019s fan base as one of the few dark-skinned Black women on her season. The latter experience wasn\u2019t entirely new to the Florida native, who recalls encountering similar treatment as a child, also as one of the few dark-skinned Black girls in her elementary school.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThat was something that I became aware of very young that pushed me to build confidence from within, instead of waiting for the world to affirm me. Because in that world, I was never going to receive it if that\u2019s what I was waiting for,\u201d Bissainthe confided, adding that being the oldest sister of five siblings also \u201cmade me grow up really early.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt built a type of strength in me,\u201d she continued, \u201cthe type of resilience and confidence that I\u2019m so grateful for today.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Bissainthe carried that same resilience with her into the uncertain terrain of early adulthood, particularly during her college years at New York\u2019s St. John\u2019s University. At one point during her freshman year, she considered becoming a forensic psychologist, only to realize the reality of that career path didn\u2019t exactly match her expectations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s such a difference when you see something on TV and how it\u2019s so animated, but then when you get to the real world, it\u2019s like, this is not that fun,\u201d Bissainthe admitted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Courtesy of Chelley Bissainthe<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Afterward, she explored majoring in public relations, but financial issues and other challenges ultimately pushed her away from the college experience entirely after about two and a half years. It was then that Bissainthe began to question what she really wanted to do with her life in the long run.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAll these different things were coming up, and I had to sit with myself and say, \u2018Let\u2019s really be realistic. What is it that you want?\u2019\u201d she remembered. \u201cBecause I realized school wasn\u2019t a passion of mine.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The odd jobs Bissainthe took on to keep up with New York City\u2019s high cost of living weren\u2019t much more fulfilling either. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t find any happiness in any of them,\u201d she added. \u201cThe happiness that I found was being able to learn certain skills.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n One of those was how to run a business, which is where Bissainthe caught the entrepreneurial bug. Add in her longtime modeling dreams, and the multi-hyphenate began to see ambitions that felt more aligned with her future, one that she imagined \u201cmade me feel free, creative and on my own terms.\u201d That\u2019s when Bissainthe made a promise to herself.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI told myself, I\u2019m not working any other jobs anymore that aren\u2019t tailored to modeling or building my brand,\u201d she recalled to celebrity.land. \u201cI\u2019m not doing any bartending, hosting, nothing. I just need to focus on this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Not long after committing to modeling full time, a TikTok video of Bissainthe caught the attention of \u201cLove Island USA\u201d producers. Before she knew it, and within weeks of the show\u2019s return, she was on a flight to Fiji, where she\u2019d soon join the original Season 7 cast.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Initially, Bissainthe didn\u2019t tell anyone except a circle of close friends on Instagram that she was going on \u201cLove Island USA.\u201d \u201cNot even my family, until the day before my flight,\u201d she told celebrity.land.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Bissainthe said she entered the show with \u201czero expectations\u201d and few concerns, aside from anticipating that it would be an \u201cuncomfortable\u201d experience to essentially live under constant camera surveillance 24\/7. On top of that, searching for love on national television \u2014 under the watchful eyes of millions of critical viewers, mind you \u2014 comes with its own unique pressures.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n There\u2019s also the fact that, on many reality shows, especially dating series like \u201cLove Island,\u201d Black women are often subjected to mistreatment and microaggressions, which Bissainthe experienced firsthand during her season and <\/span>even after the cameras stopped rolling<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Going into the show, \u201cpart of me was a little bit worried\u201d about that, Bissainthe said. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Still, worries about criticism didn\u2019t hold the Haitian American islander back from showing up as her true, confident self from the moment she stepped into the villa. Of course, being isolated in a bubble in the middle of the Pacific, with no access to social media or the internet, Bissainthe had no way of knowing how deeply her presence would resonate with viewers. She didn\u2019t even realize her season had become \u201csuch a big conversation all throughout the summer\u201d until stepping back into reality.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI was in the villa asking the girls, like, \u2018Do y\u2019all think people are watching this?\u2019\u201d Bissainthe said, recalling how she and her castmates would often sit around the villa and \u201ctalk about the most random things.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI\u2019m like, I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on out there. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s being seen,\u201d she added. \u201cBut if this is what they see, I know they can\u2019t stand us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Little did Bissainthe know, fans couldn\u2019t get <\/span>enough<\/span><\/em> of her season. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n From the headline-grabbing villa drama to the Casa Amor shake-ups to the challenges that turned up the heat in more ways than one \u2014 including the <\/span>infamous heart rate challenge<\/span><\/a> \u2014 social media was buzzing with \u201cLove Island USA\u201d discourse all summer long, and even long after. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Looking](\"https:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/69c293e2150000d8054eeece.jpg?ops=crop_89_1034_3946_4404%2Cscalefit_720_noupscale&format=webp)
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