OXFORD, Ala. (WIAT/CBS) — Have you been watching CBS’s reality show ‘Love Island‘? It’s ok, we won’t tell anyone.
As it turns out, Alabama has stake in the game. Laurel Goldman is representing her hometown of Oxford, Alabama; her alma mater Auburn; and single folks everywhere on the show’s second season—which, unlike the first, is not taking place on a legitimate island due to COVID-19 concerns.
Currently Goldman is looking and competing for love in Las Vegas, but there’s a catch: the competition is out of her hands. She’ll need to win enough votes to continue her search for Prince Charming on the CBS show.
CBS 42 Digital Reporter Landon Wexler caught up with Goldman’s mom, Cindy Jenkins, in Oxford to learn more about the Southerner-turned-“Islander.”
“She loved hanging out with her family, Friday night lights, twirling her baton,” Jenkins said. “That was her thing.”
Goldman graduated from Oxford High School in 2016. She then went on to become a Tiger at Auburn University.
“She graduated from Auburn in 2020 with a degree in business management and a minor in human resources.”
Eager to put her education to good use, Laurel launched a business before getting her diploma.
“Laurel and her really good friend, Jeanie Bingham, opened up a lash business,” Jenkins said. “I think it was their senior year of college. They started off in an apartment and then they eventually grew it. Now they’re in a studio, and they’ve hired two girls to help them out, because they are so busy now.”
Her search for love on the “island” seems to be going swimmingly.
“I know she really does like Carrington, the guy that she’s met,” Jenkins said. “I can tell from watching her actions on the show.
Bad behavior from reality show stars is a staple of the genre, but Jenkins says she and her family haven’t seen any from Goldman.
“We are really proud of how Laurel has faced adversity in her villa,” Jenkins said. “She has remained true to herself. We are just really proud that she can do that with the cameras around and the pressures of trying to find love.”
According to Jenkins, here’s what happened when another contestant, Kiersten Saulter, told Goldman she was going after the same guy:
“She told Laurel in no uncertain terms that she was going after him, that they shared a kiss,” Jenkins said. “And Laurel handled herself so amazingly. I would never been able to handle myself the way she did. She told her, ‘I encourage you to do that if you want to. But I need to pursue him just to find out if what we have is genuine and real.’”
To see more of Goldman on CBS’s ‘Love Island,’ she’ll need your help. Vote via the Love Island USA app.
Register to vote, and help the Alabama native (or your favorite contestant) win money and ultimately, the “game of love.”
Watch “Love Island” on CBS 42 or your local CBS station each night of the week at 8 p.m. CT.
