Bryan Arenales wasn’t the only Casa Amor boy to make it to the Love Island USA Season 7 finale. Chris Seeley, a 6’8″ professional basketball player, joined the show alongside Arenales, and while his sights were initially set on Chelley Bissainthe, he more or less closed out his time in the villa with OG Islander Huda Mustafa.
Seeley was initially a breath of fresh air for Mustafa, who had just come off a dramatic run with Jeremiah Brown. But their relationship slowly began to implode when Mustafa refused to kiss Seeley in public during the day, despite being intimate with him under the sheets at night. Things came to a head in the finale episode when, on a candlelit date under the Fijian moonlight, Seeley gave Mustafa the choice to end things, and much to his surprise, she did.
“I didn’t want to end it,” Seeley told Decider over a Zoom interview. “I told her I wanted to still test the connection, leaving the villa. I gave her the opportunity to tell me what she wanted so we could go about it the right way. If she didn’t want to, then that’s what it was. I wasn’t going to convince her or anything like that.”
Mustafa’s decision to move forward as friends was the least awkward part of the date. Just after she made her decision, a singer walked out and serenaded them with Frank Ocean’s “Moon River.” Then, when Mustafa asked Seeley to carry back across the water to dry land, he refused.
“I want to be a gentleman. But at the same time, I don’t think being a gentleman means I got to carry you,” he said. “That’s a princess type of treatment that you would do for your girl or somebody that you’re getting to know or whatever it is.”
When we caught up with Seeley, he revealed where he currently stands with Mustafa, why he thought Ace Greene was “absolutely” the villa’s ringleader, and why, in a heated exchange, he told the other Islanders he could’ve been playing ball overseas. Check out the full interview below.
DECIDER: What was your reaction to finding out you’d be joining the show in Casa Amor?
CHRIS SEELEY: Honestly, I was thrilled. I feel like that was the perfect year or season to be at Casa, because there were no solidified couples and everything was up for grabs. I think with the certain group that we had in there? Perfect group. So overall, I was thrilled and I was ready.
What were the vibes like when you came back into the villa? Were the OG guys welcoming toward you guys, or was there a bit of tension, competition?
At first, I think as any male would do, competition-wise, you kind of size each other up. Like, what is he looking like? What’s his vibe? But as the days went on, they were more and more welcoming. There were some more than others at first, but some took a little bit of time.
You and Chelley hit it off in the beginning, which everyone thought was hilarious mainly because of the height difference between you and Ace. What would you say your relationship with both Chelley and Ace looked like by the end?
All friends. Despite me and Chelley’s connection that we had, I took the initiative to take a step back. Yeah, we did have a good connection, but we were also good friends as well. I feel like we had a good friendship. With me and Ace, I can tell he didn’t really like me too much in the beginning. That’s why I pulled him for a chat and let him know there’s no bad blood. I don’t want no tension, no awkwardness. I think he respected me after that. It kind of cleared the air a little bit. So, yeah, we’re all friends.
Some people have been saying he was kind of the ringleader in the villa and the other guys were his minions. Did you find that from your experience?
Absolutely, yeah, you can tell. He was that person that everybody wanted to be around. Whenever his energy was up, everybody else’s energy was up. Or whenever he was trying to be goofy, everybody would just follow along, or whatever his decision-making was.
Eventually, you and Huda found your way to each other. Had you watched how things unfolded between her and Jeremiah before joining the show? And did that have any effect on the way you handled Huda once you were in a couple?
Yeah, I saw it. Even though she wasn’t my number one when I was first going into Casa, I didn’t want to put a [preconceived notion] on her. I kind of wanted to have a clean slate once we expressed interest in each other. I feel like that was fair. I didn’t want her to think that I thought who she was with Jeremiah, that’s who she really is. Because I know there’s two sides to people. She was only acting out of emotion. So I wanted to know the real her.
It did seem like you had genuine feelings for Huda at one point, but things obviously changed over time. What was the main thing that made you no longer want to be with her?
I think it was the not kissing in public for me. At first, I was like, “OK, we obviously just don’t see eye to eye.” But then it kept getting brought up. And I was like, “OK, now I’m just not really getting you and you’re really standing on your point.” In the real world, to put it in perspective, you’re basically saying you’re gonna take somebody home and have sex with them before you even give a man a kiss on a date, which is totally backwards in my opinion.
As far as giving Huda the opportunity to be the one to end things, was that a conscious decision on your part? Why didn’t you end it sooner since you had clearly had mixed feelings about your connection with her?
I didn’t want to end it. I told her I wanted to still test the connection, leaving the villa. I gave her the opportunity to tell me what she wanted so we could go about it the right way. If she didn’t want to, then that’s what it was. I wasn’t going to convince her or anything like that. I wanted to respect what she wanted. When I told her, “Just tell me what you want,” she took like 10, 15 minutes to figure out what she wanted to do. When she said, “I think we should still be friends,” that’s why I kind of responded, “I kind of knew. I was waiting for you to say it.” I had been sitting there waiting for her to make her decision.
Not carrying Huda back across the water on your final date was surely a decision. Can you speak about that a bit?
Honestly, of course, I want to be a gentleman. But at the same time, I don’t think being a gentleman means I got to carry you. I think that’s treatment. That’s a princess type of treatment that you would do for your girl or somebody that you’re getting to know or whatever it is. But if we’re just friends, like we just established that we are, I’m going to help you down. We can walk together across the water. You don’t need to be picked up like a fairy princess. None of that. That’s just how I roll though.
Do you see yourselves remaining friends outside of the villa or do you think you’ll just go your separate ways?
We’re friends now. We’re all staying at an Airbnb right now together, all the finalists. So, we’re still around each other. We’re not constantly talking, but we’ll joke back and forth and say little things here and there. But we’re friends.
What was your reaction when you guys came in third place, especially since you had just ended things with each other?
Honestly, I was surprised. I wasn’t surprised that we made it into the finals. I was just surprised we got third place because we weren’t even together. But due to the timing, I don’t think America knew what was going on before the votes went in. I think that’s why we got third. There was a genuine connection there for sure, but I don’t think they saw the hiccups that we had before the voting.
If you could go back in time, is there anything you would have done differently during your time on Love Island?
Not at all. I don’t regret any decisions or anything I said or anything like that. I don’t regret anything.
I was going to say, we’re happy that, you know, you could have been playing ball overseas and you weren’t.
I really could have, though. They don’t understand that. I’m just big on no drama, no conflict. I don’t like feeling irritated or frustrated and stuff like that. For me to get frustrated over things like that, which should be just so simple in my opinion, I had to just express that even though I feel blessed being on the show and being in the villa and stuff like that, I just had to express that I do not need this. I could go play basketball overseas right now.
Drama stuff aside, a lot of the challenges were very fun to watch and I’m sure they were fun to be involved in. Did you have a favorite?
Yeah, I think it would be in between the “Heart Rate” challenge and the “Crash-Out” challenge.
Your outfit and the “Heart Rate” challenge was A-plus.
You think so? I looked like a big old baby with a big diaper on and a bib.
Everyone killed it in that challenge! The reunion’s coming up. What’s one thing you’re hoping to address? What are you most excited for?
As of right now, I don’t really have anything. I think once I rewatch all the episodes that I was a part of, then I’ll have a better understanding of what I want to ask going into the reunion and what I want answered. But as of right now, I ain’t got nothing.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Love Island USA Season 7 is currently streaming on Peacock.