ROCK SPRINGS — Six months ago, Sean Reifel was patrolling the streets of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, as a police officer and single father to a toddler. Today, he’s a breakout star of “Love Island USA Season 8,” with 1.3 million followers, a national fan base, and a name that traces back to Rock Springs, where he was born before his family moved away as an infant.

Sean was born in Rock Springs, where his parents met in school. Some of his family still live here today, and frequent visits over the years kept the connection alive.

Football, not television, dominated Sean’s early years. He played at Laney College in Oakland, California, the same junior college program later featured in a Netflix docuseries, “Last Chance U:” about coach John Beam, before moving on to San Jose State. Along the way he crossed paths with future NFL players, including Christian McCaffrey during a stint in Denver, and trained alongside NFL athletes Brandon Polk and Eric Bomford at summer camps.

After a series of concussions ended his football career, Sean turned to CrossFit and eventually became a police officer. He also began posting workout videos on TikTok, which his mother said served mostly as a stress outlet from police work. He had fewer than 2,000 followers when a Love Island casting scout found him.

A mother’s premonition

His mother, Beth Reifel, said the idea that her son would end up on the show arrived almost out of nowhere. While cooking dinner last summer, she walked into a room where her daughters were watching Love Island Season 6, a show she had never seen. Within about a minute of hearing an on-screen argument, she blurted out, “Sean’s gonna be on this show.” Her daughters stared at her, stunned. Beth said it was only the second time in her life she’d had that kind of gut feeling.

She began researching the application process and pitched the idea to Sean. His first response, she said, was, “Mom, I love you, but absolutely not.” Weeks later, he called to say a Love Island scout had found his small TikTok page and messaged him directly.

The vetting process was extensive: multiple psychological evaluations, background investigations, medical testing, several rounds of Zoom interviews and finally an in-person meeting with Peacock executives in New York. Sean was in the process from October through his departure for Fiji in May, and even then didn’t have a firm answer until days before he left. He nearly backed out entirely, telling producers no just two days before his flight because of anxiety about leaving his young son, before ultimately changing his mind.

Controversy and a single dad’s dilemma

Sean’s departure from the Bethlehem Police Department to join the show drew public criticism from the city’s mayor, who said taxpayer money had funded his training. Beth said Sean’s intent going in was to represent police officers well.

“Let me go in here and let me show them that we are good,” Beth recalled him saying, “because they’re such a bad stigma with policing.”

What didn’t make it to air, she said, is that Sean was the only single parent in the cast. His son turned 2 while he was in Fiji, and he struggled privately with the separation even as he opened up on camera about fatherhood.

The hardest part to watch

Sean was the first Islander eliminated, exiting after six episodes, and Beth said that stretch was the hardest part of the whole experience for her to watch as a mother.

She described one moment in particular: Sean had been paired with a fellow contestant and the two had to choose separately whether to stay together or explore other connections. When Sean opened a door expecting to find her waiting, she wasn’t there. She had chosen to walk away.

“To see him in that moment was devastating,” Beth said.

She said she could see him drawing on lessons from his football days, leaning on the mental grounding his own mother, who is from Korea, had taught him growing up. Beth said she watched every episode except the elimination itself.

“That was hard. That was tough,” she said.

She said the online reaction afterward was its own kind of painful, with strangers criticizing Sean for leaving his young son to be on the show, unaware he had already told producers no once before changing his mind. Beth said she began quietly reaching out to other contestants’ parents she could find online, just to check in. She’s since become close with the mothers of two other Islanders, and said the informal support network has helped.

“We’re literally putting our most precious thing, our babies, out to the world to comment on,” Beth said. “That’s tough.”

Despite the short run, Sean’s online following grew from under 2,000 to more than 1.3 million, and fan campaigns pushed for his return to the show, with some viewers even floating him as a future Bachelor lead, an idea he has said he’d turn down.

What’s next

Sean did not return to police work. Beth said the department raised concerns about managing crowds now drawn to him in public. He is currently fielding brand deals and club appearances, with a contractual reunion special set to film in New York, airing Aug. 31.

Longer term, he has told his mother he wants to move into nursing, staying in a service-type position.