Love Island alum hit with domestic violence charge after alleged assault of his child's mother
Reality TV alum Cashel Barnett has been arrested and jailed on domestic violence charges.
Best known for his appearances on season one of Love Island USA and The Challenge: USA, the 34-year-old was arrested Monday in Salt Lake City, Utah, on charges including assault, aggravated assault and domestic violence in the presence of a child.
Entertainment Weekly reported he was not granted bail as the alleged victim, who is Barnett's former partner and the mother of their child, said she feared he would try to kill her if he was allowed to leave custody.
According to authorities, Barnett's former partner made a police report on April 25 about an incident that occurred 15 days earlier.
She claimed they were arguing and that she attempted to calm him down by hugging him. She said he slapped her arms away before following her into a bedroom, where he proceeded to pick her up by the neck with both hands, slam her onto the bed and choke her. She further alleged that Barnett slapped her in the face while telling her: 'You're okay.'
She alleged the incident took place in the presence of their child. She also said that the incident caused her to experience nausea, vomiting, memory loss, headache, trouble swallowing, and difficulty breathing.
A detention hearing for Barnett has been scheduled for Thursday.
Barnett's attorney Andrew K. Deesing told Entertainment Weekly that his client is cooperating with authorities.
"Upon finding out about the arrest warrant, Mr. Barnett immediately retained counsel and then surrendered on the arrest warrant in Utah's Third District Court first thing" on Monday morning, said Deesing.
"We are obviously in the very early stages here and won't have any comment until after that hearing on Thursday," the lawyer continued.
The Independent has approached representatives for Barnett and Love Island USA for comment.
Barnett, from Sacramento, California, first found fame when he was one of the original cast mates for the first season of Love Island USA, which aired in 2019.
After entering the Love Island Villa on day one he was briefly paired with Caroline "Caro" Viehweg. He was ultimately dumped from the island on day 20.
He returned to reality television in 2022 when he appeared in the first season of the CBS competition show The Challenge: USA. He starred alongside Kyra Green, who he briefly dated on Love Island, and was eliminated in the second episode.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
What Love Island USA can learn from the UK franchise's own tragedies
Love Island USA - a spinoff of the UK reality series - is having its most-watched season yet. But its newfound popularity has come with a dark side. Contestants have been relentlessly cyberbullied on social media, so much so that the show aired a statement during a recent episode with a plea for viewers to halt the harassment. Its host Ariana Madix echoed the sentiment, asking viewers to rethink their posts and how they could impact the cast. The show - which places everyday men and women in a villa in Fiji to compete and find love - often helps contestants secure millions of social media followers, brand deals and appearance requests. But the downsides of overnight fame have been well-documented since the show's start 10 years ago in the UK, with some contestants complaining about depression, anxiety and relentless scrutiny. Two contestants died by suicide after appearing on the show, prompting the British government to launch an inquiry into reality television. The show's producers say they've learned from the reality franchise's years of success how to better support cast and crew. But psychology experts who have worked with reality TV shows say it's an uphill battle. Behavioural psychologist Jo Hemmings, who has worked with reality TV productions including Big Brother, said the last five years have seen a lot of positive changes in the UK to address welfare concerns - but those strides haven't been as evident in the US. "I don't think duty of care has evolved as far in the US as it has in the UK," she told the BBC. "Maybe there isn't the same level of welfare, support or transparency. I also wonder that with increased political polarisation in the US, the cyber-bullying and threats may be more intense and widespread." She said it's about achieving a balance when working on a reality show. The core of many of these shows is outrageous emotional outbursts, sexual behaviour, aggressive insults and confrontations. "Producers want excitement and jeopardy," she said, but on-set psychologists are ensuring "stability and healthy behaviours". Love Island, which has run iterations in more than 20 countries, says it offers contestants support before, during and after production, and continues to adjust its mental health offerings to meet changing needs. On the USA version, ITV America, which produces the show, employes a duty of care representative, two on-site psychologists and a welfare manager that helps islanders as a "non-producer voice" in the villa. Throughout filming, all cast members have an appointed psychologist at the villa - and check ins can be initiated by an islander, as cast members are called on the series, or the doctor. Before they are cast on the show, each contestant goes through a lengthy vetting by a psychologist. Contestants are also briefed about negative press, social media interactions and public perceptions. But this mental health awareness has come from some hard lessons. As the show gained popularity in the UK, some complained about depression or anxiety after appearing as part of the cast. Several have spoken out about thoughts about taking their own lives in the aftermath. The suicides of former Love Island UK contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis in 2018 and 2019 prompted questions about how and how well participants are helped. ITV boss says Love Island aftercare 'can't be forever' Love Island: ITV announces new contestant welfare measures "You can earn a lot of money if that's what you want to do, but really you need to look at the bigger picture and think in five, six, 10 years' time, you're always going to be pretty much known for being on a reality TV show," said Zara Holland, who competed on Love Island in 2016 in the UK. "It was a really hard time for me. And if I could turn back time, I really wish I'd never gone on the show," she told BBC's Newsbeat. Social media can act as a double-edged sword for contestants. Dr Jamie Huysman, who has advised productions on mental health care for more than 20 years, noted it has "made it hell" for some. "It has truly disassociated us from the impact of our words." Contestants want fame - but they're not the only ones who feel a rush by getting likes and followers online. Average viewers on social media are also chasing that same gratification when they make memes or posts that become popular, and they are often incentivised to be critical, he says. Ms Hemmings said psychologists can encourage people to ignore those criticising them online, but it's difficult. "The public can be fickle and harsh," she said. "They need to remember that contributors are young and ambitious, but could be their siblings, brothers, sisters or children." She noted that overnight fame can lead to a cascade of issues for contestants, which can be overwhelming. "They yearn for it, but it brings unwelcome scrutiny," she said. "Their pasts are dissected. Exes come out of the woodwork to sell their stories, and everything they do or say is open to criticism." Another complication is that "very few reality stars go onto successful media careers - most struggle or fade away". But having a taste of popularity can make it difficult to go back to their old lives. Love Island: Secrets from a former contestant What are the legal rights of reality TV stars, really? Season 7, which is still airing, has become the series' most-watched season since it was launched in the US in 2019. Sports bars are hosting watch parties, celebrities are spoofing viral moments online - Grammy-winner Megan Thee Stallion even appeared on an episode this season and gushed over her obsession with the show. The show's popularity in the US has spurred a spin-off dubbed "Beyond the Villa", which is set to air next month and follow Season 6 Islanders as they navigate life in Los Angeles after the show. But that success has also led to a rise in negative comments about the cast this season, who have been relentlessly criticised over their appearances and actions. The show broadcast a message this week in the middle of an episode: "The keyword in Love Island is… Love. We love our fans. We love our Islanders. We don't love cyberbullying, harassment or hate." It followed a public plea from host Ariana Madix: "Don't be contacting people's families. Don't be doxing people. Don't be going on Islanders' pages and saying rude things." Love Island USA's producers did not say whether added mental health precautions would be taken after this season - but noted they review and reassess such measures continually. Members of the cast do not have access to their cell phones or social media while on the island, but their friends and family have been responding to some of the harassment - including those who know contestant Huda Mustafa, a mother whose relationship with fellow Islander Jeremiah Brown has been heavily scrutinised online this season. The show has routinely defended itself and its cohesive psychological support system. Similar critiques have been made toward reality TV production broadly, boiling over in 2023 when reality star Bethenny Frankel of the Housewives franchise sounded off on the treatment of reality stars, dubbing it a "reality reckoning". "Networks and streamers have been exploiting people for too long," she said, arguing those who appear on reality programmes should be unionised. The calls were followed by several lawsuits challenging "Love Is Blind," the "Real Housewives" franchise and "Vanderpump Rules" - where Ms Madix rose to fame - over the treatment of the shows' casts. Suzie Gibson, a senior lecturer in English at Charles Sturt University, compared reality TV stars to "modern-day gladiators, battling for love, fame and Instagram followers". "Audiences can live vicariously through their favourites, while hoping for others' dismissal or ridicule." What are the legal rights of reality TV stars, really? 'I wish I'd never gone on reality TV' 'Struggling' Love Island star took own life
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Hannah Fields Addresses Viral Sex Scene With Pepe Garcia On 'Love Island': 'Forgot I Was Being Recorded'
Hannah Fields is finally responding to the viral "Love Island" sex scene that has the internet buzzing. Her reaction comes just days after being dumped from the villa, where islanders are cut off from the outside world and unaware of the online discourse, including the nonstop chat about the moment she spat in her hand during a steamy scene with Pepe Garcia. 'We had not slept in, like, 24 hours. It had been three hours after we went to bed,' Fields told Us Weekly. 'You kind of forget that you're on camera." "I literally always forgot that I was being recorded, and it would dawn on me because I'd just see a camera, and I'd be like, 'Oh sh-t, I'm being recorded.'" According to Fields, she didn't recall her intimate moment with Garcia until the next day, when she urged him not to talk about it with others. Fields didn't learn the moment made it to air until recently, adding, "I'm like, 'Oh, I couldn't have been less discreet.'" Fields and Pepe aren't the only islanders who took their relationship to the next level inside the villa. In fact, Fields revealed that the "Love Island" cast developed a code word to discuss their intimate moments without being found out. 'We had a code name for intimacy,' Fields stated. 'We would say, 'How was your journey? What was this journey like?'" Fields explained that the code word began with Huda Mustafa, who viewers saw getting intimate with Jeremiah Brown. "[Mustafa] said something like, 'Oh, I had a journey. My journey went all the way,'" Fields recalled. While fans worldwide also went on a journey with Fields and Garcia, the reality star explained that she actively tried to block out the presence of cameras and the thought that America was watching. That mindset, however, proved difficult to maintain, especially when she was dumped from the villa in a recent episode, leaving Garcia behind to connect with other single islanders. "You don't know if people are voting out of spite or if people are voting because they actually like you," she said. "When I was in the bottom three, I tried really not to think about it as, 'Oh, America didn't like me.'" "I don't wanna think that America hates me. Nobody wants to think that. But I think there were a couple of times that people had said, 'Oh America must not like me.' When I got coupled up with Pepe, the girls would tell me like, 'Well America must've seen something that you didn't.' America was really personified in the villa," she continued. The reality star also opened up about the connection she made with her first match inside the villa, Charlie Georgiou, who was sent home days before Fields in another shocking elimination. 'I mean, we had a great time, and at the time, we had the strongest connection," she said before revealing they also experienced their "fair amount of downs." Georgiou echoed this sentiment in a previous interview, reported by The Blast, describing how he and Fields rediscovered each other in a new way prior to his abrupt removal from the villa. "We spoke. We found out more things about each other on a deeper level. That conversation went on for a while and it was beautiful and we were so happy after it," he said. "I was like, 'Wow, this is it. I'm gonna get to experience this real 'Love Island' journey now. We're gonna do this together. Whatever comes at us, okay. If we mess up along the way, it's all part of the journey.'" Since leaving the villa, Fields revealed she's "had pretty mixed emotions for a while." She also addressed whether she and Garcia would explore their connection once season 7 of "Love Island" wraps. "I've just been trying to stay really open-minded because I don't know what's gonna happen. He could build another connection,' she said. "I would love to continue building my connection with Pepe [outside the villa], but I'm not gonna force anything."
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
What Happened to Cane on 'The Young and the Restless'?
What Happened to Cane on 'The Young and the Restless'? originally appeared on Parade. The Young and the Restless just revealed Cane Ashby is back in the mix, and he's the infamous Aristotle Dumas. However, Lily's (Christel Khalil) ex-husband has a whole new look this time around. Daniel Goddard created the role of Cane in 2007. In 2019, the actor was let go from the CBS soap after Daniel and Lily finalized their divorce spring, Goddard got the rumor mill buzzing that he was returning to Y&R, but that was not the case. Goodard joinedGeneral Hospital in the mystery role of Henry Dalton. In what was probably one of the worst-kept secrets in the soap world, Days of Our Lives star Billy Flynn has taken over the role of Cane. News broke in March that Flynn had wrapped his run on Days of Our Lives and had joined The Young and the Restless. After the not-so-big reveal, Flynn spoke with TV Insider about this new version of Cane. 'What Daniel did was amazing — he was great as Cane — and obviously, the relationship that Cane and Lily had is a testament to their work. Cane is a fascinating character. Essentially, we're going to rebrand it a bit, so they have a closer age range, and I don't have a sexy accent. I can't replicate it, so I'm going to do my thing. When people see this Cane and the relationship that I have as Cane with Lily, I think they'll be happy,' he spilled. One thing that won't change is the fact that Lily has always been the great love of Cane's life. From what we have seen, Flynn and Khalil appear to have great chemistry, which is a plus for fans accepting a new actor in a role. Cane Ashby is back on The Young and the Restless with a new look, a new vibe, and a new alias. The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS. What Happened to Cane on 'The Young and the Restless'? first appeared on Parade on Jun 20, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 20, 2025, where it first appeared.
