Jacques O’Neill’s been in the headlines this week after he decided to pull out of Love Island having struggled with his mental health.
That show has had some history with contestants having such issues. And it just shows what kind of world and existence that can be: one without much fulfilment. I don’t think there’s much fulfilment in becoming notorious and famous because you’re on a show like Love Island. Maybe that might be one of the reasons why Jacques has struggled a little with it.
Mastering a sport, or mastering anything, I believe gives you a sense of fulfilment. It definitely helps with your well-being and mental health. But it also shows how important it is to talk about things and to talk to someone if you are struggling. I’m a big believer in a problem shared is a problem halved. I think it’s really important he’s done that.
He’s shown a bit of vulnerability and admitted the show’s not for him and it’s not how he wants to do things. It also shows rugby league in a good light. We’ve plenty of protocols in place to help people in these situations.
Rugby league is a great sport to play but there’s plenty of highs and lows that come with that. The wild swings of success and losing may contribute to making things difficult for some people mentally. But I think we’re ahead of the game with that.
Going forward from Love Island, Jacques is a good looking lad and he’ll have plenty of opportunities to do modelling and things like that. I’m not sure how fulfilling that sort of work is, although I only got offered a gig modelling balaclavas! But I’m sure realising your potential as a rugby league player, playing Super League and maybe having a chance of playing in finals would bring real fulfilment. And that generally brings great well-being.
It’s great he’s got both opportunities. I’m sure one’s a little better paid than the other! But it’d be great to see him maybe do a bit in the world he’s in at the moment and then come back into the real world of rugby league later in life. He certainly deserves a second chance if he wants that.
