Love Island's top boss Mike Spencer has opened up about the real reason for Jacques O'Neill leaving the ITV dating contest. The professional rugby player had a tearful exit from the hit reality show this week for his mental well-being.
An emotional Jacques, 23, said he needed to "get back to himself" after reconciling with his other half in the villa Paige Thorne following a rocky time with their relationship put to the test by the arrival of the Casa Amor bombshells. Jacques, who worked at winning Paige back after getting cosy with newcomer Cheyanne Kerr, was then rattled by the arrival of returning Islander Adam Collard from the 2018 series.
Paige admitted she was interested in hunky Adam and Jacques was riled up after being told by Gemma Owen: "Oh he was proper slagging you off." In the beach hut he demanded to know: "Who the f*** is he? Just another geezer who's been on the show."
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A Love Island spokesperson said of Jacques' exit: "Jacques has made the decision to leave the Villa. He will explain his reasons to the Islanders during tonight’s episode. We fully support his decision and look forward to seeing what’s next for Jacques."
His exit came just days after a friend encouraged viewers to 'please be kind' after they revealed his diagnosis of ADHD (Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). A post was made to his Instagram account which read: "Let'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."
Jacques explained to Paige that he felt the best thing for their relationship was for him to return home so he could be at his "best" for her. Paige cried as he told her: "I just know for us to work I need us to get back to myself and the only way I’m going to get back to myself is going home."
In the beach hut, he admitted: "I’d say in the last week, the only thing keeping me in this place was Paige. That’s the only thing I was staying for. I’ve never felt this way for anyone so I just want to get home, be myself again and carry things on the outside."
He added: "It’s just not fair on the girl she deserves better than me. It’s not the end of me and Paige because everyone knows what she means to me." To announce the news to his fellow islanders, he gathered everyone around the firepit and explained with Paige by his side: "I just feel like lately, I just can’t be myself."
The shock exit had worried fans wondering if bosses had told him to leave. But executive producer Mike confirmed that it was entirely Jacques' decision to walk.
Speaking to Deadline he said: "Jacques is amazing. We love Jacques. When you date, your emotions are naturally up and down. Finding love is not a simple thing, that’s why the show is so relatable.
"Jacques was on his own journey and he had a strong connection with Paige but sometimes you have to think about yourself and that's what Jacques did."
Mike says Jacques will open up on spin-off show Aftersun tomorrow night (Sunday July 16). "We respected his decision to head home but I think he’s excited to be on Aftersun on Sunday to discuss his journey," he said.
And Mike continued: "All the contestants are adults. We speak to the families of the Islanders every day.
"They have a point of contact and they’re updated every day. We've never had a parent who told us they wanted to pull their child out of the show. The contestants are all adults so it’s down to them more than anyone else."
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