Olandria Carthen Opens Up About Rise to Fame on ‘House of Maher’ Podcast

While longtime fans of Love Island USA breakout star Olandria Carthen might have known from the moment she set foot in the villa that she was destined for global fame, the model herself recently revealed that she was in no way expecting it.

Stopping by the House of Maher podcast on Tuesday, June 2, the style star opened up about an array of topics with the hosts—sisters Ilona, Olivia and Adrianna Maher—including her love of blush, the house rule she doesn’t joke around about and her rapid rise to fame. While chatting about the latter subject, Carthen discussed all the ways appearing on the hit Peacock reality TV series changed her life, also painting a picture of just how much she was not anticipating everything that came after filming wrapped.

Carthen opens up about unexpected rise to fame

About 35 minutes into the hour-long episode, Olympian Ilona Maher applauded Carthen’s impressive work ethic, noting that she appeared to be making “all the right moves” as she entered the public eye. Maher then asked whether that was all part of a plan the model had laid out for herself beforehand, to which Carthen answered with a very candid, “Not at all.”

“I kind of went into this whole thing with low expectations, honestly, and I feel like that’s why I have been like every moment for me has been such a pinch me moment,” Carthen responded, referring to joining the cast of Love Island USA Season 7. “Because I had such low expectations.”

The model took this sentiment a step further, revealing that she not only believed she’d return to her everyday life following her reality TV debut, but she was so confident in this assumption that she asked her previous general manager to hold her job for her impending return. “I literally sat my general manager down and was like, ‘Hey, can you please hold my position? I’ll probably be back in a few weeks,” she added. “That’s where my mind was. I loved my job, so I was like, ‘You know what? I’ll come back, you know, no biggie.’ Then I got my phone back.”

And upon seeing just how much her social media platforms had grown overnight, with her Instagram following reaching over 2 million, she knew she wouldn’t be returning to her workplace. Instead, she went all in on her dreams, following her passion for fashion and beauty. Part of this process also included finding the right team to fit her goals—a task she also shared more behind-the-scenes details about during the chat.

You can watch the full House of Maher podcast episode on YouTube here!

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