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A contestant on Season 8 of Love Island, Sean Reifel, has been making headlines after a Pennsylvanian mayor called him out for ditching his police work for the hit show.
This week Peacock revealed the lineup for its reality dating competition, and the Easton native shared that he has been working for the Bethlehem Police Department in August 2025.
"You can be having the worst day of your life, and I would help you sift through that," Sean said in a promo video.
Following the lineup announcement, it was revealed that Sean was fired from his job before the show even aired on Tuesday, June 2.
According to Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds, Sean resigned from his position himself to appear on the show.
"Our police department spent a lot of time training and we paid thousands of taxpayer dollars to send him to the police academy. We are disappointed he left, as we now have another vacancy in our department that is impossible to fill until next year," he said.
After the mayor's statement went viral, Sean Reifel's mother, Beth Reifel Bow, showed support for his son and hit back at the mayor.
Beth said the mayor was not "fully honest about all the details" he shared, and she refuses to let false narratives surface online.
"This is Sean's mom and this makes me very sad because the mayor doesn't see what a huge missed opportunity this was. I care about facts so let's start with Sean put in for leave," she said under the comment section of the Instagram post from Entertainment Tonight.
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Beth continued, "Secondly they didn't pay for a full academy for Sean. Sean came to PA after being a Contra Sheriff Deputy since April 2021 and they paid to put him through a full academy."
Sean's mom said she is "proud" of her son for making the "brave decision to put yourself out there to find love under the microscope of the world".
The latest development came as Love Island has been hit by several controversies, as one contestant, Vasana Montgomery, was removed from the cast just days before the premiere after videos surfaced that appeared to show her using the N-word.
