Love Island’s Jacques O’Neill feared his mental health was deteriorating so badly in the villa that he might never recover.
The reality star left the show last week after clashing with rival Adam Collard over Paige Thorne.
In tonight's, Paige and Adam kissed for the first time – which Jacques had to endure watching, ahead of his appearance on ITV2’s Aftersun. Very awkward...
Jacques, who has ADHD, said he “massively underestimated” the impact the show would have on him mentally. “The last two weeks was definitely the worst I’ve ever felt in my life,” he said.
“I was finding myself feeling worse and worse every day.
“And if I didn’t leave when I did, I was scared I would never have got back to my normal self.”
Prior to the fallout, Jacques’ behaviour was criticised, with the rugby league player drawing complaints to Ofcom from viewers accusing him of being misogynistic.
He admits he has found it difficult to watch the scenes back. “I’ve got a lot of work to do for myself to become a better person,” he says.
“I know my family came out and spoke about my ADHD while I was in the villa but that is no excuse for me.
“Yes, I might find certain things a lot more difficult than others but at the end of the day I need to take responsibility for my own actions and I’ll hold my hands up.
“It’s time to work on myself for myself.”
Jacques is currently receiving support from the ITV show as well as from the welfare team at his Castleford Tigers team.
How to woo a rock star
DJ “Diddy” David Hamilton was once mistaken for Mick Jagger, in the worst possible way.
The 83-year-old recalls to Record Collector how he compered an event where the Rolling Stones performed.
“I parked my car at the back of the venue,” he says.
“Someone thought it was Mick Jagger’s car and scratched a love note on it.
“So for a week I was driving around with ‘I love you, Mick’ on the bonnet of my car.”
An interesting attempt to woo a rock star.
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