In a heartfelt tribute that left many fans surprised, Bella Thorne revealed a personal truth during National Hispanic Heritage Month, she’s Cuban! The star has always been proud of being Latina and continues to celebrate her roots throughout the years.
The actress honored her late father, Delancey Reinaldo “Rey” Thorne, in an emotional Instagram post, writing, "My roots will always lead me back to him. Honoring my dad, my heritage, and the love that built me. Happy National Hispanic Heritage Month," adding a heart emoji and the Cuban flag.
Though Thorne’s Cuban background has long been a part of her story, many fans were unaware. Last year, she celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with another special message. “Today marks the end of Hispanic Heritage Month, but I’m always celebrating because i’ll always be that cuban girl from FL!! keeping u alive daddy every day.”
The actress lost her father in a tragic motorcycle accident in Florida in 2007. She was just nine years old at the time. Her dad was of Cuban and Italian descent, while her mother, Tamara Thorne, comes from Irish, English, German, and Welsh ancestry.
Fans may remember that this isn’t the first time Bella has opened up about her heritage. Back in 2020, she spoke candidly about the struggles of not looking like the stereotypical image of a Latina. “Being Cuban/Latin in most people’s eyes means having dark eyes, dark hair, and dark skin,” she wrote. “I’m naturally blonde. I have hazel brown eyes and I try not to go in the sun because skin cancer runs in my family.”
She went on to say, “Honestly I wish I looked more Latin so I could feel more Latin, so I could feel closer to my father and be prouder of my heritage...to wear my heritage on my skin. It’s just hard sometimes when no one thinks u are who u are...and everyone wants u to be something else :/ I LOVE MY CUBAN HERITAGE.”
Thorne has consistently honored her father's memory over the years. On the 13th anniversary of his death in 2020, she shared old photos on Instagram with a caption that read, “Today you died. And tomorrow we are left with just the remnants of you..I hope ur floating in the sky somewhere or as that beautiful bird u always wanted to be…I want to say time heals but it’s been years and I still feel very broken without you, please stop by my dreams tonight so I can say hello.”
In her 2019 book 'The Life of a Wannabe Mogul: Mental Disarray,' Bella explored the pain of that loss more deeply. In a poem titled “daddy,” she wrote, “why did you leave? when will you be back? why wont you be at my wedding / or my funeral? they say a parent should never have to burry [sic] their child but a child should never have 2 burry their dad either.”
She also revealed more complicated feelings about her father in another poem, “hate,” writing: “Your nose used to remind me of all the good parts of my father and now it just reminds me all the cheating scum stories I have heard about him…”
Thorne has touched on the lasting impact of her father’s death multiple times. In a 2015 interview with Seventeen, she said, “No, not yet. I don’t have my permit either. My father died in a motorcycle accident. I’m not mature enough to accept the responsibility of perhaps taking someone else’s life.” (She later got her license.)
She also wrote a song about the experience, revealing on SiriusXM’s Sway in the Morning in 2017, “It’s literally about the way he died… this song is really just about dying alone. I’m gonna sing it raw vocals, on a mic, guitar, just cry it out for anybody who wants to cry with me, then they can.”