A hot new bombshell entered the villa this summer when Penn State alumna Bria Bryant joined the cast of Love Island USA for the show’s fourth season.

The New Jersey native graduated from Penn State in 2020 and earned a master’s degree at Rutgers the following year.

While at Penn State, Bryant was the president of the Black Student Union at Penn State Altoona, a member of the club cheerleading team, and a telecommunications major. After learning about the technical side of television at school, Bryant was ready to step in front of the camera.

To turn her dream of being on TV into a reality, she started applying to different television shows after graduation and quickly got a response back from Love Island, and it “all took off from there.”

As a longtime Love Island fan, Bryant was excited, to say the least.

“I couldn’t come back to finish my senior year because of the pandemic, so during quarantine, my roommate and I had Love Island watch parties,” Bryant said. “Fast forward to two years later and actually being on the show, it was the most surreal feeling.”

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Although her time on the show didn’t go quite as planned, Bryant said she has no regrets. She was “dumped” from the villa just five days after arriving.

“I thought I was going to come out of the show with more friendships in terms of the girls that I was meeting,” Bryant said. “When I came into the villa this season, I felt very isolated right away. If you watch the show you’ll see why, but overall I think I made the best of my experience.”

Bryant’s time on Love Island brought her much closer to her college roommates, who were cheering her on throughout the process.

“My freshman roommates told me they were watching the show together. That was a really fun way for us to reconnect,” Bryant said. “We talk every now and then, but this was one thing that really brought us back together. When I got my phone back and saw all their messages and how much they were supporting me, it was just a great feeling.”

Surprisingly, Bryant said she noticed many similarities between Love Island and Penn State. While in the villa, the social atmosphere is comparable to a night out in Happy Valley. One thing that stood out the most to her was, of course, the parties.

“The whole concept of making friends and enjoying people’s company was similar to college, and the parties at Penn State were always really fun, so it was an easy transition to go to Love Island because their parties are also amazing!”

Nowadays, Bryant is planning to head back to Rutgers to work alongside her former professor to create a women’s communication organization. But, of course, Penn State will always hold a special place in her heart.

“My time at Penn State was amazing. I made so many great friends that I’m still really close with now,” she said. “Everyone from Penn State, they really become amazing people as they go through their life, just knowing them and where they are now. I feel really proud to say that I came from Penn State.”