Jacques O’Neill has revealed that his time in the Love Island villa left him feeling “ready to break down” as he opened up about his reasons for quitting the ITV dating series.
Rugby player Jacques was confirmed to have left the villa ahead of Tuesday’s episode airing, having caused a stir on the show since the beginning with his bombshell entrance as Gemma Owen’s ex-boyfriend. But following a heated exchange with Paige and clashes with Adam, the 23-year-old went on to explain his decision to quit in an emotional conversation with his co-stars.
Jacques has now said that he believes joining Love Island was “the worst decision of my life”, The Mirror reports . He explained that the experience had left him “crying my eyes out” and struggling to cope as events unfolded in the villa.
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Speaking to The Sun, Jacques said of his decision to leave: “I was ready to break down. I was feeling so mentally drained, I just wanted to go home and get myself right. It broke me and I was already broken.
"I was crying my eyes out. I couldn’t cope,” he added. “I was literally feeling awful. It was the worst I’d ever felt in my life."
Jacques also acknowledged that the way he spoke to Paige was “wrong”, saying that having ADHD led to him often feeling anxious and “on edge”. He said that Love Island bosses knew about his ADHD before he entered the villa, and claimed that they convinced him to stay when he told them that he wanted to leave the show.
Jacques’ sister spoke out on social media about his ADHD diagnosis shortly before his departure from the villa, urging viewers to “be kind”. She wrote on Instagram: "By no means is this a get out clause for his actions but it is to show that he can fundamentally struggle with his emotions at times.
“He is an amazing person who I’m proud to call my friend/little brother.” She added: "Love Island, although real, is still a show where the producers do have control and we see 45 minutes out of the 1440 in 24 hours.”
A spokesperson for ITV told The Mirror: "We cannot comment on any individual's medical records owing to confidentiality and our own duty of care towards the Islanders, however we have rigorous and extensive checks in place to assess Islanders' physical and mental health in advance of being cleared to enter the villa.
"This is something we take extremely seriously. As we said at the time, Jacques made the decision to leave and we respected that decision,” they added. "Islanders are welcome to leave should they choose to do so and we would never put pressure on someone to stay in the villa."
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