Content warning: This article discusses abuse, eating disorders, and suicide. Huda Mustafa was, arguably, the star Love Island USA Season 7. And when she appeared on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy on July 17, fans expected to get tapped in to all of the unaired drama that occurred in and after the villa. However, at the beginning of the episode, Huda instead opened up about her tough childhood and growing up with an “extremely abusive” father, and how that influenced her throughout her entire life.
When asked about what her childhood was like, Huda spoke about how she didn’t have a “fortunate” upbringing. Growing up as the youngest of five children to Palestinian immigrants, Huda said that her family struggled financially throughout her childhood. “I wasn’t raised with money. We played with sticks outside,” she said. “We didn’t have phones until we were 16 or 17.”
Huda also said that her father was “extremely abusive” not only to her and her siblings, but to her mother as well. “I don’t even know how old I was, but I remember hearing my dad like beating the sh*t out of my mom in the room, and I remember like, finally, like, I think someone got the door open,” Huda recounted to Alex. “And I just remember seeing my mom’s face — like her glasses were broken, and then I just see him snatch her head back and slam the door. Like, that was my childhood.”
Eventually, when Huda was in the fourth grade, her mother made the decision to leave her father and move Huda, her three sisters, and her brother into a two-bedroom apartment. Her mother, who worked three to four jobs at once to provide for her family, slept on a futon meant for outdoor use as Huda and her sisters shared one room, and her brother had the other.
However, during the separation, Huda still saw her father and was alone with him regularly — and she implied that abuse would occur during those times. “To this day, I don’t think anyone in my family believes anything that I say about that,” she said. “But I’ve accepted that I know what was going on.”
Huda also told Alex that she hasn’t spoken to her father in eight years, and that she hasn’t had a relationship with him since she was 16. “There’s a really valid reason as to why I’m not speaking to him,” she said.
HUda also opened up about being bullied throughout her childhood.
Her family situation wasn’t the only source of pain in Huda’s childhood — she also opened up about being bullied in school, developing an eating disorder in middle school, and grappling with suicidal ideation. “People would make terrorist comments about me. I got called that growing up,” Huda said. “Boys would grab me, pin me against walls. I didn’t want to live anymore.”
However, Huda shared that finding her community in high school helped her find strength and belonging — specifically in the theater community. “I was a theater kid. Period. I did a lot of musical theater,” Huda said. “That’s all I would do.”
Huda sharing her story on Call Her Daddy isn’t just a wake-up call to internet trolls and bullies in the villa — it’s a reminder to all of us that we never know what someone is going through behind the scenes. From her troubled childhood to experiencing relentless internet bullying as an adult, Huda’s choice to open up so candidly was a strong one, and is sure to inspire and empower other survivors of abuse.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, call 911 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1(800) 799-SAFE (7233) or visit thehotline.org
If you or someone you know is seeking help for mental health concerns, visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) website, or call 1-800-950-NAMI(6264). For confidential treatment referrals, visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) website, or call the National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP(4357). In an emergency, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK(8255) or call 911.
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741. You can also reach out to the Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860 or the Trevor Lifeline at 1-866-488-7386, or to your local suicide crisis center.