A friend of Love Island star Jacques O'Neil has spoken out about his diagnosis as he comes under fire in the villa and from viewers. The rugby player has found himself in a lot of bother following Casa Amor - the ITV2 dating show's ultimate 'test'.
Jacques left viewers furious as he decided to get to know a couple of new girls who entered the main villa as part of the programme's annual twist. After first chatting to Mollie Salmon, the 23-year-old ended up getting cosy with Cheyanne Kerr.
The pair shared a couple of kisses and Jacques hinted that he could possibly pick her in the recoupling. However, during Thursday's tense episode, Jacques chose to remain coupled up with Paige, and he was forced to try and explain his actions to the Welsh paramedic in Friday evening's show.
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Jacques told a tearful Paige: "If you don’t want me, if you don’t want to carry things on, if you don’t want to hear an apology, that’s sweet." Paige replied: "I’m still stood here talking to you and trying to understand you Jaques, to know where I stand and what the hell is going on.
"And all you’re giving me back is just immature behaviour." Later in the show, Jacques took a different approach to try to win back Paige. He said: "I don’t want to lose you and it’s as simple as that, and I’m sorry for hurting you.
"It’s made me realise I only want you… From now on it’s just you and that’s that." But a composed Paige replied "I just feel like you’re not ready for relationship things. You’re not at that level yet… You’ve got to be better Jaques."
As viewers encouraged Paige to leave him, those running Jacques' social media while he's in the villa have had their say. A post was made to his Instagram account which reads: "Ler's recap. Sometimes, people living with ADHA may behave in ways that come off as ruder or disrespectful.
"These behaviors(sic) can stem from challenges with self-control, executive functioning, and self-stimulation actions. How you perceive their behaviour often depends on your understanding of ADHA symptoms. If you start to look at things from their perspective you may see that it's not so rude after all."
A friend penned alongside the screenshot of what appears to be an article: "Jacques was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 9 years old. By not 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."
The message continued: "He is an amazing person who I'm proud to call my friend/little brother. All the hate thrown towards Jacques doesn’t go to him directly….It comes to his loved ones who have always supported him and not just whilst he is on Love Island.
"Love Island, although real. Is still a show where the producers do have control and we see. Please be kind," the post ended. While comments had been closed on the post, it did rack up more than 7,000 likes within an hour of it being posted.
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