Who is Cierra Ortega, 25-year-old evicted from a US reality show for racist comments?

'Love Island USA', the reality show featuring a group of single, young men and women in relationships, hit headlines recently after it evicted one of the show contestants over a racist slur. Last week, Love Island USA announced that it removed 25-year-old Cierra Ortega from the show after her old Instagram story using a racial slur to address a group of Asians surfaced online.

Though Cierra's parents had apologised on her behalf, the reality show star had remained silent for the past three days since her eviction. Now, Cierra, who is of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent, has broken her silence and apologised for using an 'incredibly offensive and derogatory word naively.'

"I want to first start by addressing not just anyone I have hurt or deeply offended, but most importantly, the entire Asian community,' she said, while adding, "I am deeply, truly, and honestly, so sorry. I had no idea that the word carried as much pain and harm, or came with the history that it did or I never would have used it. I had no ill intent when I used it. But that's absolutely no excuse, because intent doesn't excuse ignorance."

She added that she was embarassed by the post and since been educating anyone who has accidentally used the word. 'Love Island USA' is based on the English series Love Island and is a dating reality show, which has been running for several seasons. Each season, contestants are taken to an isolated island, where they form relationships to stay relevant in the show, which is completely under CCTV surveillance.