Love Island star Jacques O'Neill has returned to his former rugby club to receive a warm welcome from teammates and fans. Jacques left Castleford Tigers in west Yorkshire to go on the ITV2 reality show in June and on Friday he was delighted to join them for their win over Catalans Dragons.
Jacques, who left the dating contest show early over his mental health after struggling to see newcomer Adam Collard flirting with his partner in the villa Paige Thorne, was beaming as he chatted with and hugged supporters after being introduced onto the pitch. "Can't beat the rugby fans especially the tigers' family," he wrote on his Instagram as he shared video clips from his day.
With another clip of himself joining in the dressing room celebrations with the players he said: "What a night @ctrlfc topped off with a win." Jacques also made an appeal as he shared a video of himself meeting one fan: "Being able to make someone smile like this genuinely makes me so happy, he said." "Honestly one of the best feelings ever yesterday. Can someone please help me get in contact with the lads' family?" he asked.
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Fans have noticed that Jacques, who went through a rocky patch with paramedic Paige after he kissed Cheyanne Kerr in the famous TV villa in Mallorca while she was on a girls' trip to Casa Amor, and his ex have now deleted all traces of each other from their Instagram accounts leaving no pictures documenting their coupling on the hit show.
On Thursday Jacques issued a lengthy statement apologising for his behaviour. He quit Love Island last month in one of the most emotional moments in the 2022 series.
He decided to leave the villa amid the fallout of annual 'relationship test' stage Casa Amor, saying he needed to 'get back to himself.' After returning to the UK Jacques said that taking part in the show was the 'worst decision of his life'.
In the statement fellow Islander Gemma Owen's ex-boyfriend said "there is work that needs to be done on myself" and that he is "not asking for sympathy." Jacques' statement comes after fellow Islander Remi Lambert made a post in which he claimed he felt picked on by Jacques and Luca Bish.
The post was also liked by fellow Islander Tasha Ghouri who has since unfollowed Jacques on social media, as has her boyfriend Andrew Le Page. Reacting to recent events, 23-year-old Jacques penned in a message posted to his Instagram Stories.
He said: "I just want to acknowledge the situation that's happening right now and apologise if my behaviour has caused offence or been misinterpreted over the last few weeks. I genuinely have no bad feelings towards anyone and I've not meant for anything to come across that way at all."
He continued: "It was not my intention and I'm genuinely sorry if it has. Life has been very overwhelming recently and admittedly I've probably not handled myself in the best possible way.
"I take full responsibility for my actions. I'm aware I'm far from perfect and that there is work that needs to be done on myself." He went on to say: "I had my first therapy session on Monday which really took me out of my comfort zone, I know I have needed this for years but it's only now I have decided to get help. I know it's a step in the right direction for me even after just one session.
"I'm not asking for sympathy, I just want to acknowledge the situation and move forward as positively as I can. However, I know this can be used as an important lesson for me moving forward and over the coming years. I hope I can become the person I want to be and use this new platform to spread a positive message."
He ended his post: "I'm so sorry to anyone that I have let down." ITV has also been forced to speak out and deny rumours Jacques was 'removed' from the villa for misogynistic behaviour. It comes after thousands of viewers lodged official complaints with Ofcom during the series relating to the behaviour of the boys, including Jacques.
Last week Adam fired back at former love rival Jacques after he made a dig about his relationship with Paige. In a question and answer session with his villa pal Luca, Jacques appeared to poke fun in a live Instagram broadcast.
In the Q&A session with fans Luca picked out the question 'what do you think of Adam and Paige's relationship?'.Jacques replied: "They seem like they get on really really well. They seem very happy together."
Pressing him further on the subject Luca said "glad the mum approves", referring to the awkward Meet the Parents episode when Paige asked her mum what she thought of Adam and after a long pause her mum told her daughter "I'm not buying it."
Jacques said sarcastically: "Yeah well her mum seems really fond of Adam." He and Luca then burst out laughing. And he added: "I'm sure the Sunday dinner will go really well." Adam shared the clip on his Twitter account and said: "Humble in defeat our kid, chin up x"
Jacques, who missed last Sunday night's Love Island reunion show, revealed that he hadn't spoken to his former partner in the TV villa. "No I haven't. That was short and sweet wasn't it. No I haven't simple as that," he said.
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