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Louise Thomas
Editor
Upon leaving Fiji and touching down in Los Angeles, California, Love Island USA’s runner-up and season favorite, Leah Kateb, was greeted with an influx of celebrity messages. From basketball players to TikTok icon Charli D’Amelio, the 24-year-old’s direct message inbox on Instagram was stormed by an array of A-listers.
This summer, Peacock’s reality dating show Love Island USA has been on everyone’s minds and television, following a group of twenty-something-year-olds attempt to find love in a controlled environment meant to “test connections” with dramatic spins. For six weeks, fans watched spills of laughter and tears as relationships crashed and burned, all while worshipping their “Queen” contestant, Kateb.
Coming off the most-watched reality series of the summer, the Calabasas-based islander left the villa with her partner, Miguel Harichi, and over two million followers on Instagram and TikTok. As soon as she landed in LA, Kateb sat down for a major tell-all episode of Call Her Daddy with Alex Cooper, sharing all the islander secrets and what her post-villa life would look like. And apparently, it includes a slew of new celebrity friends.
Kateb joined Love Island USA season six winner Serena Page and contestant JaNa Craig on E! News, speaking to Courtney Loz about the A-listers who’ve messaged them since they left the show.
“Have you had any celebrities slide into your DMs or any fun messages you can share with us?” Loz asked the three friends. Page paused before Kateb admitted: “I have so many.”
“The amount of NBA players that are bothering me at the moment is like, stay away from me,” Kateb said, making an “X” with her fingers. “Gracie Abrams hit me up. We’re now besties.”
The other celebrities included Tate Mcrae, Charli D’Amelio, and Kim Kardashian.
“Charli has been the sweetest. She has been so sweet, so helpful,” Kateb confessed. “Kim K hit me up. She was like, ‘I’m obsessed. Blah. Blah. Blah.’ And I was like, ‘Wow.’”
Page, Craig, and Kateb agreed they were waiting and hoping for Taylor Swift and Beyoncé to message them.
As for the stars’ future plans, they assured their fans they “have a lot of fun stuff” lined up. “Stay tuned,” Kateb added.
Since the very first episode of season six, the three islanders clicked, forming a bond that quickly stole the hearts of viewers in America. When romantic relationships were rocky in the Love Island USA villa, Page, Craig, and Kateb found solace and strength in each other, growing their friendship into sisterhood – a bond praised online.
“Honestly, the JaNa, Serena, and Leah friendship is one of the most amazing relationships I’ve ever seen in six years of watching this show,” one person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Another agreed: “Leah calling Serena and JaNa her best friends and then JaNa saying their gonna be her bridesmaids and her kids’ godparents, I love them so much.”
