Love Island USA season 8 contestant Sean Reifel has been criticized by a Pennsylvania mayor for quitting his job as a police officer to appear on a dating reality show.
Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds accused Mr. Reifel, 29, of leaving the Bethlehem Police Department less than a year after taking office, allegedly due to understaffing.
“Our police spent a lot of time training and paid thousands of taxpayer dollars to send him to the police academy,” Reynolds told local news station WHTM.
“It is unfortunate that he has left because there is another vacancy in our department that will not be filled until next year.”
He added: “I never thought I’d see the day when being on a reality show would trump being a police officer in America.”
Reifel’s former boss, Police Chief Michel Cotto, also expressed disappointment with the resignation.
“I love Sean. He was a good man and a great police officer, and I’m disappointed,” Cotto told local media outlet The Morning Call over the weekend.
“We work incredibly hard to recruit the best people possible to join the Bethlehem Police Department.”
Kotto also explained why the up-and-coming reality star took time off after the show ended and was unable to return to duty.
“At this point, I don’t think any department would be willing to allow someone to take ‘x’ amount of weeks off for a TV show when everyone is hurting and overtime is being used to fill the void,” Cotto said. “Cops are getting burned out. That’s just disgusting to me.”
Despite his resignation, Reifel still introduced himself as a police officer to Peacock viewers in the second official trailer, which revealed the original 12 Islanders.
“Actually, I’m not a model or an actor or a police officer,” Reifel boasted, doing a handstand to show off his upper body strength. “You could be having the worst day of your life, and I’m just going to help you get through it.”
The Pennsylvania native has already made headlines for allegedly being embroiled in a messy custody battle with the mother of his 2-year-old son.
Reifel isn’t the only Season 8 cast member to face backlash even before the season premieres.
Contestant Vasana Montgomery was fired from next season after a video surfaced of her using a racial slur.
According to TMZ, the 26-year-old contestant from Beaverton, Oregon, was allegedly filmed singing the N-word in the lyrics.
A production source told Decider that the video is privately owned and was only made known after Montgomery was announced as part of the cast.
“Love Island” Season 8 premieres Tuesdays at 9pm ET on Peacock.
