Before Beatriz Hatz walked into the Love Island villa in May 2026, she’d already stood on an Olympic-adjacent podium in Paris. She won bronze in the long jump at the 2024 Paralympic Games. That’s not the kind of resume the show usually attracts, and it’s exactly why her season 8 casting made headlines beyond the usual reality TV blogs.
Beatriz Alexa Hatz is 25 years old, born October 7, 2000, in Littleton, Colorado. She grew up in nearby Lakewood and is Mexican-American. When Love Island USA announced her as an original islander, she became the first contestant in the franchise’s history with a physical impairment.
That framing matters, but it’s not the whole story. Hatz has spent over a decade building an athletic career most competitors on this show can’t touch.
The Athlete Before the Villa
Hatz was born without a fibula in her right leg. The limb was amputated below the knee when she was ten months old, and she later had additional surgeries to straighten her knees. She competes in the T64 classification, for athletes with below-the-knee limb differences, in long jump and sprint events, and runs on a running blade rather than a standard prosthetic.
A friend encouraged her to try track and field as a teenager, and the results came fast. At the 2017 Junior Para World Championships, she won two gold medals and a silver across running and long jump events. The following year she was named US Paralympic High School Athlete of the Year, a distinction that marked her as a serious talent well before most of her future villa co-stars had any public platform at all.
She made her senior international debut at the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, finishing 5th in the long jump T64 and 6th in both the 100m and 200m T64. Four years later in Paris, she closed the gap, winning bronze in the long jump, her first Paralympic medal. Off the track, she’s sponsored by prosthetics maker Össur and has moved into coaching, working with high-school-level track and field athletes in the years between competitive cycles.
Why Love Island, and Why It’s a Big Deal
Casting a Paralympian as an original islander isn’t just a diversity checkbox. It’s a signal about who the show thinks its audience wants to root for. Hatz entered the villa on day one, initially paired with fellow original islander Sean before he was upfront that he wasn’t confident she was the one for him. She then coupled up with Gabriel, and the two connected quickly.
Representation on reality dating shows tends to be more symbolic than substantive. Hatz’s presence in the villa, competing for romantic attention on the same terms as everyone else, without her disability being treated as the plot, is the more interesting version of that conversation. It’s also worth pairing with how Hunter Woodhall, a Paralympic sprinter who built a massive TikTok following of his own, has approached public life on his own terms rather than as an inspiration narrative handed to him by other people. She wasn’t the only track and field name in the villa, either. Fellow original islander Sincere Rhea, a Division I hurdler turned coach, brought a similar competitive background into a very different corner of the same season.
Her Personal Life, On and Off the Show
Hatz has kept most of her dating history private, but she opened up about it on Love Island USA itself, revealing she’d spent three on-and-off years dating a man roughly 20 years older than her, at 45. She described the relationship as unhealthy in hindsight, a detail that added real emotional context to why she approached the villa’s dynamics the way she did. Inside the house, she coupled up with Gabriel Vasconcelos, and the two have said since that they’re on good terms as friends rather than a couple. Vasconcelos lives in Miami and Hatz in Los Angeles, and both have been candid that whatever comes next between them, if anything, is undecided.
What She Earns, Beyond the Villa
Beyond her Love Island appearance fee, Hatz’s income comes from a mix sources typical of an elite Paralympian with crossover visibility: athletics-related earnings, sponsorship deals (including her ongoing relationship with prosthetics maker Össur), and media appearances that have expanded since her reality TV run. None of these figures are publicly disclosed in detail, but her season 8 casting was itself a commercial opportunity, translating years of competitive success most track and field fans already knew about into mainstream brand visibility.
Life After the Villa
Whatever her final placement, Hatz’s Love Island run has already done something her sport rarely gets: mainstream, non-track-fan attention. Team USA’s own channels leaned into the crossover, publishing profiles that treated her villa appearance as a genuine extension of her athletic story rather than a distraction from it.
For a sport that gets Olympic-cycle attention every four years and little else in between, that kind of visibility is difficult to manufacture any other way. See our full Love Island USA season 8 guide for how her season played out alongside the rest of the cast.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Beatriz Hatz?
Beatriz Hatz was born on October 7, 2000, making her 25 years old during Love Island USA season 8. She was born in Littleton, Colorado, and grew up in nearby Lakewood. Her athletic career actually predates most of her castmates’ public profiles by close to a decade, since she was winning international medals as a teenager back in 2017, long before Love Island USA ever announced her as part of its 2026 cast.
What happened to Beatriz Hatz’s leg?
Hatz was born without a fibula in her right leg, and the limb was amputated below the knee when she was ten months old. She later had additional surgeries to straighten her knees. She now competes in the T64 Paralympic classification, reserved for athletes with below-the-knee limb differences, and runs using a running blade rather than a standard prosthetic limb in both her sprinting and long jump events.
Did Beatriz Hatz win a medal at the Paralympics?
Yes. Hatz won bronze in the long jump at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, her first Paralympic medal after finishing 5th in long jump and 6th in both the 100m and 200m at the 2020 Tokyo Games. She also won two golds and a silver at the 2017 Junior Para World Championships and was named US Paralympic High School Athlete of the Year in 2018, well before her Paralympic debut.
Who did Beatriz Hatz date on Love Island USA?
Hatz coupled up with fellow islander Gabriel Vasconcelos during her season 8 run. The two have since said they’re on good terms as friends rather than continuing a romantic relationship, with Vasconcelos based in Miami and Hatz in Los Angeles. She also revealed on the show that she previously spent three on-and-off years dating a man about 20 years older than her, which she’s since described as an unhealthy dynamic.
Is Beatriz Hatz the first disabled contestant on Love Island USA?
Yes. When Love Island USA announced its season 8 cast in May 2026, Hatz became the first islander in the franchise’s history with a physical impairment. Beyond competing in the villa, she’s continued coaching high-school-level track and field athletes and remains sponsored by prosthetics maker Össur, meaning her reality TV run runs alongside an active athletic and coaching career rather than replacing it.