Love Island USA: Why Leslie Golden Left The Show Suddenly

Click here for an updated story with new information regarding Leslie Golden’s sudden elimination from Love Island USA.

The fans are wondering why Casa Amor newbie Leslie Golden left Love Island USA season 3 unexpectedly, and she has now revealed her real reasons for exiting the show. Last year, Noah Purvis was suddenly cut from Love Island USA season 2 after his work in adult films came to the surface. And when it comes to season 3, there have been quite a few casting mishaps so far.

After entering the Love Island USA villa along with Wes Ogsbury, Slade Parker had to leave the show immediately due to family issues that remain unclear. The show then introduced its Casa Amor cast including Tony Caraballo a.k.a. Ballo. However, certain social media posts from Ballo came to the surface and were deemed problematic. As a result, Ballo was promptly cut from the show before the Casa Amor twist began. Now, Leslie is the latest islander to “disappear” from the cast suddenly.

Leslie Golden has taken to social media to explain why she left Love Island USA season 3 prior to Sunday’s episode 19. The show largely dismissed her exit and offered a blink-and-you-miss-it mention that Leslie was no longer there. Leslie has now opened up about why she exited the series via her Instagram Stories, and screenshots are included below. “Personal reasons,” she wrote initially. But when a fan pushed back on whether she left due to her drama with Shannon St Claire in episode 18, Leslie was quick to dismiss that theory. She explained, “No no no, completely unrelated to the drama I swear! I know how it seems but I have no beef with anyone there [shrug emoji].”Update: On Monday, August 2, Leslie took to Instagram Stories once again to talk answer a fan question about her exit from the show. The fan asked, “Will you ever reveal why you left?” Leslie responded, “I would love to say it. I think it’s hilarious, it’s a really dumb reason. Again, very on-brand for me. However, what I did was a little illegal [laughs].” She did not elaborate any further.

Time will tell if Leslie Golden will get more specific about her sudden Love Island USA exit. It has been a trend in the past for islanders dealing with casting mishaps to not comment further on what really happened, potentially due to contractual reasons. On the other hand, it appears that Leslie left on her own terms, so it’s possible that she can share whatever information she wants to. With an elimination round coming up on this Sunday night episode, it was likely that Leslie would have been sent home anyway along with her Casa Amor co-star Genevieve Shawcross. However, it was made clear on the show (and in Leslie’s Instagram posts) that she left the villa way before any of that even happened.

The fans should stay tuned to find out more details about Leslie’s Love Island departure as the days and weeks go by. It could be that she won’t share any more details from this point forward, but there is also a chance that she’ll reveal more information over time.

Love Island USA season 3 airs Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays at 9pm ET/PT on CBS.

Sources: Leslie Golden on Instagram

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Bernardo Sim
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Bernardo Sim writes about TV shows, queer culture, & Brazilian media. Born and raised in the Amazon, he now lives in South Florida. he/him

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