Why Did Miami's Yulissa Escobar Leave Love Island USA?

Bye-bye, Yulissa. We hardly knew ye.

June 5, 2025

Image: Yulissa Escobar entering the Love Island villa.

Yulissa Escobar, a 27-year-old from Miami, has left Love Island USA's Season 7. Why? Screenshot via Love Island USA/YouTube

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At the 18-minute mark of the second episode of Love Island USA Wednesday night, as islanders awoke in their luxury Fijian villa, narrator Ian Stirling delivered the line that was (sorta) heard 'round the world:

"Yulissa has left the villa."

Yulissa Escobar, a 27-year-old from Miami, had been part of the latest group of singles to join the popular Peacock reality show. But while Stirling’s five-word announcement signaled her exit, it came with almost no context or screen time. Many viewers (this writer included!) did not even realize Escobar was gone until well into the episode.

So, what the heck happened?

While it remains unclear whether producers removed Escobar from the villa in the middle of the night or edited her out of the episode, one thing is clear: Her stay was as brief as it was messy.

click to enlarge

Yulissa Escobar previously shared a handful of pro-Trump posts on social media.

Screenshot via @yulissaescobar/Instagram and @jess3d_/X

After Peacock released its cast reveal trailer last week, internet sleuths resurfaced a handful of Escobar's older social media posts featuring her posing for selfies in a bright red "Make America Great Again" hat. In one now-deleted TikTok video from November 2024, Escobar describes losing followers over her pro-Trump beliefs.

"I lost about 600 followers because I'm a Trump supporter?" Escobar asks in the video. "You guys need to grow a pair of balls and stop being so soft."

Another undated clip recently posted by TikTok user @celebsnapz appears to show Escobar repeatedly using the n-word while appearing on a podcast. (Note: New Times hasn't independently verified the footage.)

"You fuck my nigga, perfect, but that's it," she says. "Like, now I'm fucking my nigga. He's my nigga. Like, bye, bitch."

According to Escobar's Instagram, she works in real estate, hospitality, and "luxury & business." Her LinkedIn account shows she's the "VIP Services Coordinator" for a company called Goat Hospitality Group, whose clients appear to include Pilo's Street Tacos and Nathan's Beach Club.

Naturally, the internet had...thoughts about Escobar's departure from the show.

52 minutes in & I just noticed Yulissa ain’t in the villa I- 💀 #LoveIslandUSA pic.twitter.com/RX5PSaPHMJ
— 🧚🏾‍♀️DNM (@My_Moment95) June 5, 2025

love island producers waking up Yulissa in the middle of the night to evict her ass #LoveIslandUSA pic.twitter.com/phwktF2yIk
— simi (@simisuckss) June 5, 2025

didn’t even realize yulissa was gone until the fire pit, they ate that #loveislandusa pic.twitter.com/h2J49DO4Pi
— jay | love island era (@stormbxrnbaby) June 5, 2025

“yulissa has left the villa” and no explanation is sending meee #LoveIslandUSA pic.twitter.com/dgH3ldWUQw
— :) (@yellowjxkets) June 5, 2025

Alex DeLuca is a Miami New Times staff writer who focuses on news, crime, and public safety, education, and cannabis. Prior to joining New Times in June 2020, Alex worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel and freelanced for The Appeal. She holds a bachelor's degree from the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida.

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