When it comes to Love Island, flirting and fashion go hand in hand, meaning competing Islanders are always decked out in their sexiest summer outfits.
This year’s season of Love Island USA featured plenty of memorable looks, from Rob Rausch’s country-boy overalls to host Ariana Madix’s entire collection of glam dresses. However, there was one contestant in particular who captured everyone’s attention with her closet — Leah Kateb.
Kateb, 24, quickly became a fan favorite with her cool girl attitude, viral one-liners (if you can’t stop saying “Now, you’re sending three home” — same) and, of course, her wardrobe.
Now she’s spilling the tea on how it came to be.
On a new episode of the Cancelled with Tana Mongeau & Brooke Schofield podcast, Kateb said that she packed four pieces of luggage and 15 pairs of shoes, and had only two closets in the Fiji Villa. She added that Kaylor Martin also had a robust assortment of clothes.
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Kateb’s curation was so good that even some of her costars borrowed clothes, including her best friend and season 6 winner, Serena Page.
“Serena’s so funny f—ing. Every night she’d be like, ‘Leah, I’m gonna go shopping in your closet tonight,’ and I’m like, ‘Go at it baby.’ I love sharing clothes and I love matching with my girls,” Kateb said on Cancelled. “So it made me so happy seeing everyone wear my clothes.”
It turns out that Kateb’s older sister Daria was the mastermind behind the chic selections, which included a vintage Roberto Cavalli silk halterneck dress.
“My sister is behind all of my clothes. I can’t dress myself for s–t. When I try to dress myself, I will stand in front of the mirror and panic,” Kateb admitted, adding that sometimes she struggles with “body dysmorphia” before going out.
“She gets fashion. That s— comes to her so easily,” she praised her sibling.
Kateb’s style isn’t the only part of her life that fans have been keeping up with since she returned to her home city of Los Angeles.
All eyes are still on her love life ever since she and Miguel Harichi ended their time on the series as runner-ups.
“I wouldn’t be worried about us. We’re really locked in,” Kateb told PEOPLE exclusively of their relationship status in July. Not only is she confident in their love, she also believes that Harichi is the “best person I’ve ever met in my life.”
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“I have nothing but good things to say about him,” Kateb said of the British model, 27. “He is an honest, good man, and I feel very lucky that we’re even at the place that we’re at. I think that he just gets me so well – like better than anyone ever has.”
“He is so understanding. He gives me so many perspectives on everything. I think that he taught me so much as well. I think, like, you can literally see the growth of me throughout the villa, and I give a lot of credit to him for that,” she continues. “He is, for sure, a big reason for how much I was just growing and changing in the villa, and for the better. Like he is behind it. And I just appreciate him so much.”
