One eagle-eyed viewer of the enormously popular Peacock reality series spotted a familiar face amongst the aisles. A TikTok user named Chloe (@cocobychanel) alerted the masses that Caleb McDaniel, who came into the villa as a bombshell early on in the season, seems to be pictured on the box for a jumbo pool floatie sold in H-E-B. Chloe told MySA in a direct message that they found it while visiting Austin’s Northwest Hills neighborhood. The only thing missing is McDaniel’s tattoos, which may have been edited out.
MySA wanted to confirm its existence and was able to track one down in-store here in San Antonio, though the identical product is pretty hard to find online. When we visited a local H-E-B, it was difficult to find amid a sea of floaties and H-E-B-brand shop items — like butter tortilla pool floaties — but there it was.
The blue rubber duck floatie is sold by BigMouth Inc. and retails at H-E-B for $22.47. It also comes in the classic yellow rubber duck, but the box for that item doesn’t feature a potential Love Island cast member, so you decide if that’s make-or-break for you.
McDaniel, who was born and raised in Asheboro, North Carolina, comes to the show from Charleston, South Carolina. While he said on the show that he currently works as an elevator technician, his background does include some modeling work — and he’s in good company, as fellow cast members Bryce Alakai and Jen Terry were spotted in Guess Jeans advertisements, and former islander and paralympian Beatriz Hatz is pictured in some Nike stores. According to Peacock, McDaniel’s modeling work includes local magazine appearances and advertisements, and his Instagram highlights feature behind-the-scenes moments from various shoots.
The takeaway? If you’re a Love Island fan, keep your eyes peeled pretty much anywhere you go, because you never know when you’ll see someone’s No. 1 connection while running errands.