Love Island’s Paige Thorne reveals she was forced to quit NHS paramedic job over ‘backlash’ fears

Love Island star Paige Thorne has revealed that she had to quit her role in the NHS to join the ITV show, amid fears of ‘bad press’ for the health service.

Paige, 24, joined the villa in the latest series of the hit dating competition, ultimately finishing in fifth place after coupling up with Newcastle gym owner Adam Collard. But the star turn was not without sacrifices for Paige, who said that she was forced to choose between going on the show and continuing in her role as an NHS paramedic, WalesOnline reports .

Paige admitted that she had tried every avenue she could think of to keep her job while still doing Love Island, including considering taking unpaid leave or a career break. However, despite support from her manager who Paige said “backed me every step of the way”, she ultimately had to leave her role behind to grasp the opportunity.

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Speaking on the Girls Know Nothing podcast, Paige said: "I think they were worried that I went in and then it’s like, 'Oh, the NHS is struggling this much and paramedics are struggling this much and you’ve let one have time off to go into Love Island', it might’ve created more bad press and bad backlash that they just didn’t need. Which I totally understand. So the only option I had was to resign, which I was devastated about."

But following her time in the Love Island villa, Paige is already pursuing a return to her NHS role. Appearing on ITV’s Lorraine earlier this month , she told host Ranvir Singh: "I’ve got a meeting to go back to paramedic work, so that will be exciting.

"I actually saw an ambulance the other day with sirens on and I had like, serious FOMO [Fear of Missing Out]. I was like, get me my ambulance back! So yeah, I’m gonna go back into that a little bit and just see what other opportunities come."

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