Love Islander reveals they rejected huge brand deals as influencer life was 'depressing'

Wes Nelson has revealed he turned down huge brand deals after finding influencer life "depressing".

The 24-year-old reality TV star turned musician rose to fame on the fourth series of Love Island in 2018, coupling up with Laura Anderson and, later, Megan Barton-Hanson.

Although his romance with Megan, 28, wasn't to last his time in the spotlight has.

Following his time in the Majorcan villa, Wes shot to reality TV fame as he later appeared on Dancing on Ice and The X Factor : Celebrity.

Wes also launched his solo music career in 2020 and, in the same year, revealed he had become a millionaire.

Wes opened up on his decision to turn down huge deals (Channel 4)

However, there are some parts of Love Island fame Wes chose to turn his back on – including the influencer lifestyle.

Speaking in a new Channel 4 documentary, Live After Love Island: Untold, Wes revealed he turned down a huge brand deal as being an influencer made him "depressed".

He told host Will Njobvu: "I’m terrible with social media. I tried [influencing] at the start. I had a couple deals and they were quite affluent and obviously you look at it and you think, 'okay that’s a lot of money'.

The former Islander, who appeared on the 2018 series, said he handed money back to brands after struggling with posting on time (Channel 4)

"So I tried it and then I was just falling miles behind on posts because I wasn’t posting on time.

"There’s a lot of big contracts that I just gave all the money back and just said: 'I’m not doing them anymore'.

"And that's when I focussed on music, property and did what I wanted to do."

The Channel 4 programme's host Will announced the release of the documentary in a post on his Instagram page.

Wes is now a successful musician (James Shaw/REX/Shutterstock)

Wes Nelson appeared on the 2018 series of Love Island (ITV)

As he shared snaps of himself filming the doc with his 35,100 followers, Will wrote in the caption: "So excited to announce my first documentary with @Channel4 & it’s about a subject matter I know all too well… Love Island & reality TV My passion for journalism & superfandom of Love Island has just reached a whole new peak as I’ll be investigating what happens to contestants when the cameras stop rolling.

"Some go on the show and become rich & famous, securing lucrative brand deals - while others are left with no choice but to return back to their old jobs to pay the bills."

The Channel 4 doc is hosted by Will Njobvu (Channel 4)

He added: "Why is social media influencing one of the most sought after careers among young people? I’ll be finding out if it’s as easy to make a living from it as many people think.

"In this one hour documentary, industry experts & some of your favourite ex-Love Island contestants shine light on the reality of trying to make it big in the world of showbiz after appearing on the most-watched reality TV show in the country.

"‘Untold: Life After Love Island’ will be streaming on All4 & the Channel 4 Documentary YouTube from Thursday 1st December & will air on TV soon after that #C4Untold".

The documentary features a string of former Islanders from various seasons including Coco Lodge, Paige Turley, Shaughna Williams and Ikenna Ekwonna.