Love Island contestant Jacques O'Neill has issued his first statement on social media after quitting the show a week ago. The rugby player, who was coupled up with Welsh paramedic Paige Thorne, decided to leave the villa following a heated exchange over bombshell Adam Collard. You can read more on his exit here.
On Sunday, July 17, Jacques posted on his Instagram for the first time since his exit. In an emotional statement, he wrote: "Where do I start.. What a rollercoaster of emotions that was from start to finish! Since leaving the villa I've had time to reflect on my time being in there and if I’m going to be completely honest I wasn't mentally prepared for how it was going to be at all - underestimated it massively!
"The first 2 weeks of my experience was probably the happiest I've been in a very long time. On the other hand the last 2 weeks was definitely the worst I've ever felt in my life. I was finding myself feeling worse and worse every day and if I didn't leave when I did I was scared I would never have got back to my normal self!"
Read more: Love Island's Jacques O'Neill walked out of the villa before quitting the show
The 23-year-old continued: "I've watched back the episodes that I got the most hate for and listen I understand why I did. I've got a lot of work to do for myself to become a better person. I know my family come out and said about my ADHD while I was in the villa but that is no excuse for me. Yes, I might find certain things a lot more difficult than others but at the end of the day I need to take responsibility for my own actions and I’ll hold my hands up.
"I sometimes couldn’t watch how I was speaking and acting in certain situations but I'm actually glad I've watched it because now it's really opened my eyes up and it's time to work on myself for myself..
"I want to finish off and just say how overwhelming it is to see how much support Im getting from you people. If it wasn’t for yous I would be in such a worse head space than I am right now so thank you so much for that. You people that have had my back and messaging I have been reading them every night laid in bed overthinking everything and thinking the worst about everything but you people got me through it. I do really appreciate the love, honestly thank you so much."
Jacques was quickly inundated with support from fans and fellow Islanders, with former contestant Liam Llewellyn, who quit the show in the first week, writing: "Put yourself first, back you all the way bro." While Antigoni Buxton, added: "So proud of you."
And a fan commented: "Well done removing yourself from it mate and being self aware. Gotta put yourself first for sure."
It comes after Jacques said Love Island was "the worst decision" of his life and told how he actually walked out prior to his exit in his first interview. Jacques confessed he feared he would get physical with Adam if he didn't get out. Jacques told the publication: "I thought if I don't get myself out things could go horribly wrong and I could get physical.
"At home you can remove yourself from situations, but in there you had to deal with every situation, and in that moment I took my microphone off, and walked straight through the front doors because I just wanted to get out of that place.
"Producers tried coming to me, they were like, 'Jacques, are you OK? I was saying, 'I don't want to speak to you or anyone. I want to be left to myself.' It was too much." You can read more about this here.
In response to the interview, an ITV spokesperson said: "We cannot comment on any individual's medical records owing to confidentiality and our own duty of care towards the Islanders, however we have rigorous and extensive checks in place to assess Islanders' physical and mental health in advance of being cleared to enter the Villa. This is something we take extremely seriously.
"As we said at the time, Jacques made the decision to leave and we respected that decision. Islanders are welcome to leave should they choose to do so and we would never put pressure on someone to stay in the Villa." For more showbiz and television stories get our newsletter here.
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