Copyright NBC10 Boston
Love Island USA was one of the most popular shows this summer, and one of the winners of season seven grew up right here in Massachusetts. Bryan Arenales won season seven of Love Island USA alongside Amaya Espinal. The two shared the coveted $100K prize, but as most fans of the hit Peacock TV show know, they've since split. Kwani caught up with the Everett native to see how life has been since. He shared what the show taught him about dating, adapting to his newfound fame, and how he's hoping to use his platform for good Read lightly edited excerpts from the interview below, and watch the full interview above. NBC10 Boston: There are so many places that you have been, growing up in the Massachusetts area abut now you come back with a little more notoriety. How has that changed for you now that people do recognize you? Bryan Arenales: It definitely took some adjusting... but I think I'm trying to get my mom and my dad adjusted to it I was in Chicago for the marathon and we went to the Nike store to get some gear and left and right. [peopele were like] "Bryan, Bryan!" and My mom was like, "How you know them?" And I'm like, "I don't." So she's still kind of still shell-shocked about it but yeah, I think I'm adjusted to it. It's a good feeling. It's been all love. Kwani Has Questions In this series, Kwani A. Lunis talks to different people connected to the Boston area about their lives and the moments that got them to where they are today. From politicians to athletes to entertainers everyone has a story and the goal is to get to the core of that story Love Island. What was that like? So crazy, I was single for about a year and I was never doing social media. I was like probably one of two people on the show that had zero influencer stuff. My tattoo artist is huge on Instagram, and I was in Miami, and he was telling me, he was like, "Why don't you post, like, you're single now?" He was like, "You're a good-looking guy, go ahead." He was like, "You never know what you can get from it." So I give him credit till his day. The general stigma when it comes to reality dating shows is that it's superficial, but what were you able to take away when it comes to dating and love? I think the biggest thing was they rip your phone away from you, they rip your phone from you and you can't talk to family or your best friends and you're locked in that house, in that villa. There's no outside feedback... There's no comfort blanket, and there's no like, "OK, we just don't get along. We're never going to talk to each other again." I think it more so built you to face things head-on and be like, all right, we got to deal with this. We got to talk about it. So I think that was probably the biggest thing from it. What's next for you? Honestly, I think I want to build my brand within Latino culture, fitness, fashion, and probably the biggest one is mental health awareness. I want my brand to be that and focus on those things right now and keep building awareness for mental health and the kids. I think that's probably my biggest thing right now. And just keep doing the fitness stuff and try to tie those in and try tie in those four things together. I think probably the biggest thing for me right now ...and finish all the marathons And get all seven marathons.They give you a big star with all of them, so I want that star. You're gonna get it.
