Jessie Wynter has opened up about when she was spiked last year.
The Love Island star was rushed to hospital after her drink was spiked last summer while in Chicago with her boyfriend Will Young.
The Australian beauty has since admitted she blamed herself after the incident.
The reality star shot to fame on Love Island Australia in 2019, before she joined the UK version of the series as a bombshell in 2023 – where she met her boyfriend Will.
Now, she has opened up about her terrifying experience in the US while speaking to Sky News to raise awareness of spiking.
The 27-year-old told the outlet: “Last year while I was on holiday I had my drink spiked and I was actually very fortunate, I got safely to hospital, my boyfriend was there to help me and so were other members of the public.”
“However, what terrified me most was that I did share this experience on social media as it came as such a shock to myself and when I shared it on social media I discovered that this is actually happening to so many people so often, people of all ages, and they were all in the same boat as myself where they didn’t know what to do.”
“Honestly I have no idea, I think this is a huge mystery. For me, when I got spiked, I almost felt like I was a part of a freak accident or I was somewhat myself to blame in this situation,” she continued, when asked why she thinks people spike others.
“However, these people are going out motivated to do this and the reason for their motivation, I honestly don’t even want to know.”
“I was lucky enough that I didn’t have to face the repercussions of their further actions but this is a huge issue and other people are ending up in far worse situations than I did,” she added.
After she was spiked last summer, Jessie took to Instagram to issue a stark warning to her followers.
She wrote at the time: “I wasn’t sure if I should post this as I felt so embarrassed but the other night I was unfortunately rushed to hospital after my drink was spiked.”
“I was so lucky that I was with Will and he looked after me throughout the whole time especially because it was so scary. It was such an awful and scary situation to be in and it breaks my heart that this is something people need to look out for.”
The Australian model continued: “If you’re out drinking please always make sure you’re with someone who you trust and please be careful when sitting your drinks down or accepting drinks off others. It’s so sad that this even has to be a reminder but unfortunately it’s the harsh reality.”
“I’m so grateful to have been around so many supportive people who got me safely to hospital. It was so scary, in the hospital there were other girls arriving in the exact same condition I was in and the nurses said we had all tested with the same thing in our system.”
Jessie went on to say: “I felt so embarrassed that this had happened to me and felt like this was all my fault and I can imagine others have been in the same position may feel the same but this is your reminder that this is not at all your fault and it’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“The people that should feel embarrassed and ashamed are the awful people who choose to spike other peoples drinks, not the victim.”
“Thanks for all the lovely messages and I pray that this doesn’t happen to any of you out there. I also send love to anyone else who has been put in the same or worse situations. ❤️”
Read about the signs your drink may have been tampered with here.
Here are some helpful links for support and advice:
HSE: https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/drink-spiking-date-rape-drugs/
Dublin Rape Crisis Centre: https://www.drcc.ie/
