NEED TO KNOW
Love Island USA’s Belle-A Walker knows her name is unique.
The 22-year-old, who was dumped from the Fiji villa after her couple was broken up by the arrival of bombshell Cierra Ortega, spoke to PEOPLE following her season 7 exit.
In the discussion, she got real about her time with Nic Vansteenberghe (who she coupled up with on day 1), the connections she wished she’d explored and — fans’ biggest question of all — the origin behind her name.
The name has deep roots in her family history.
The name has a very special meaning to the Hawaii resident.
“It goes back,” she says. “It goes back in my family history. My nana, her name was Ann Annie, so she named my mom Vera-Ann.”
When Belle-A was born, she says her “mom wanted to give me a piece of nana as well, so she named me Isabelle-Ann.”
Ben Symons/Peacock via Getty
“It’s on my birth certificate,” she promises. “It really is legit.”
As she got older, Belle-A wanted to keep the family tradition alive.
Though she was born Isabelle-Ann, she later started going by Bella, but she didn’t want to lose the uniqueness of her family’s style.
“When I started going by Bella, I wanted it to make sense with my name still. So that’s why I started going by Belle-A,” she explains.
She says that her family is a huge support system for her, and they have been during the crazy experience that is Love Island too.
Belle-A waited until the day before she was leaving for Fiji to tell her parents that she was going on the show.
“I was genuinely terrified of how my parents would receive the news,” she admits.
The response she got was better than she could have imagined, though. “They ended up just embracing me with arms wide open, being more proud than anything and supporting me. So I was terrified for no reason.”
After her exit from the villa, she says her family “wrapped me in love and unconditional support and I feel so blessed by the support system that I do have.”
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New episodes of Love Island USA drop daily at 9 p.m. ET on Peacock.
