On Tuesday night, Season 8 of “Love Island USA” premiered, and among the first group of singles who arrived at the villa, there’s a familiar face.
Sincere Rhea, a Cape May native and former Division I track athlete, joins this season of the Peacock dating show.
The 25 year old was one of the first 10 contestants to arrive at the Fiji villa, and was coupled with Melanie Moreno, a 24-year-old bikini store manager from Los Angeles.
The show airs nearly in real time throughout the summer. Episodes are typically broadcast about two days after filming, with viewers helping shape the competition through weekly voting.
Before stepping into the villa, Rhea built an impressive athletic résumé. He graduated from St. Augustine Prep in 2019, where he excelled in both track and football. He later competed at the NCAA Division I level, becoming one of New Jersey’s top hurdlers and earning All-American honors.
After his high school career, Rhea continued competing in track and field at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He attended Penn State University before transferring to University of Miami, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree. He later continued his education at Texas Tech University.
According to his University of Miami athletics biography, Rhea’s hometown is listed as Philadelphia, though he has frequently been identified as a Cape May native and maintains strong ties to South Jersey.
His athletic accomplishments helped him build a following on social media, where he documented his collegiate track career and partnerships with major brands, including Hey Dude, Adidas, Crocs, GilletteLabs and Gainful. In recent weeks, however, much of his online content has been pared down ahead of his reality television debut.
Rhea’s appearance on “Love Island USA” is generating particular interest among local viewers. While New Jersey has been represented on the show in previous seasons, contestants from the southern part of the state — and especially the Jersey Shore region — have been relatively uncommon.
Based on the long-running British series of the same name, “Love Island USA” follows a group of singles living together in a luxury villa while searching for romantic connections. Throughout the season, contestants participate in challenges, navigate new arrivals known as “bombshells,” and decide whether to remain with their current partners or recouple with someone new.
Viewers play a major role in determining contestants’ fates through votes conducted on the show’s mobile app. Those votes can influence recouplings, eliminations and, ultimately, which couple wins the competition’s $100,000 cash prize.
Season 8 is hosted by Ariana Madix of “Vanderpump Rules,” with Scottish comedian Iain Stirling returning as narrator. New episodes stream exclusively on Peacock six days a week, with Wednesdays typically serving as the show’s only off day.
As the season unfolds, South Jersey viewers will be watching closely to see whether Cape May’s hometown representative can clear a new set of hurdles — this time in the search for love.
