Love Island's Paige Thorne says fears of backlash…

Love Island's Paige Thorne says fears of backlash against NHS forced her to quit paramedic job

Swansea Love Island contestant Paige Thorne has said that fears of a backlash against the NHS forced her to quit her paramedic job before entering the villa. But the 24-year-old does hope to return to the role she loves despite her newfound fame.

She said the NHS management team in Swansea were fully supportive of her, but her only option was to quit as there could have been criticism for allowing a member of staff to go on the show because the service was understaffed. Appearing on the Girls Know Nothing podcast she explained her decision, and said there were a lot of tears around it.

She said: "When I did tell work I needed the time off to go into the villa, my manager was so supportive and she 100% backed me every step of the way. But the only thing was, I tried all ways to keep my job and do Love Island at the same time. Obviously, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. I said to my manager: “It’s a massive opportunity, is there any way I can do it?”

"I tried taking annual leave, unpaid leave, a career break, I tried every single avenue possible to keep my job as well as do Love Island, but, unfortunately, because paramedics and the ambulance service and the NHS in general get such bad backlash about waiting times and being understaffed and all of this, I think, from a management perspective, they were like, 'Yes, we want to fully support you'. I think they couldn’t risk me going in not knowing me as a person, obviously higher up they don’t know me as an individual employee.

"I think they were worried that I went in and then it’s like, 'Oh, the NHS is struggling this much and paramedics are struggling this much and you’ve let one have time off to go into Love Island', it might’ve created more bad press and bad backlash that they just didn’t need. Which I totally understand. So the only option I had was to resign, which I was devastated about."

Paige Thorne from Love Island (Instagram/@paigethornex)

Paige explained that after going through college not really knowing what she wanted to do, she decided to become a paramedic after helping her brother when he had an accident on his moped. She applied for a course at Swansea University, got in straightaway and has always loved the job, and now hopes to return as a bank paramedic. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.

"I am glad I did it because it was in the terms, that if everything was OK, I could go back and have a conversation about going back as a bank paramedic," she told the podcast. "It would work great for me anyway, because that contract would mean I could pick and choose when I work shifts, and what would work for me. I still don't want to lose that element of being a paramedic. I love my job."

After leaving Love Island, she has been spotted smiling with her old colleagues. Paige previously said that every time she heard an ambulance siren she got ‘FOMO’ (fear of missing out) and was desperate to get back on the frontline. You can read more stories about Swansea here.

"I’ve got a meeting to go back to paramedic work, so that will be exciting," she said on Lorraine. "I actually saw an ambulance the other day with sirens on and I had like, serious FOMO. I was like, get me my ambulance back! So yeah, I’m gonna go back into that a little bit and just see what other opportunities come."