Former Love Islander Faye Winter has revealed that she was in a “really dark place” following her stint on the hit ITV dating show.
The former estate agent shot to fame on the reality series back in 2021 where she coupled up with Teddy Soares and placed third.
After an explosive row on the show that led to 25,000 Ofcom complaints, Faye has spoken out about the toll the backlash took on her mental health.
The former Love Islander revealed that she was in a “dark place” after receiving abuse for the explosive row she had with Teddy, where she accused him of finding another islander attractive.
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous for Shamed, a new YouTube series which explores the effects of trolling on six women, Faye said: “At one point, when I came out of Love Island, I thought I was the worst person in the world. Not many people get to see their flaws played out in front of everyone.”
“Did it impact my mental health? Yes. Was I in a really dark place? Yes. Do I think I deserved the hate? No.”
“But I didn’t want to come out and talk about that side of it . . . I didn’t want to sound like a cop out.”
“What I’ve done, I’ve done and I have to take full responsibility for that. I have to take full credit and say, ‘I messed up and I’m sorry.’”
“And I’ve said that for more than two years.”
Getting emotional, Faye said: “People might think, ‘She’s only crying about it now because she wants to deflect from it.’
“But I haven’t. I’ve made sure that I’ve never deflected from it. I’ve always said, ‘That was me and I’m sorry’.
“People make mistakes. I’m not going to blame it on anything other than I reacted to a situation wrongly. And that’s all I can say.
Reflecting on the show, she said: “I apologised to him numerous times and I spent 18 months of my life trying to make it up to him.”
She then confirmed that her and her ex Teddy no longer speak.
She continued: “I wasn’t in a good place mentally. I started to believe (the comments) and that’s difficult.”
“It’s one thing getting trolled and thinking, ‘OK, you think that, but I see myself differently’ but when you start to question it yourself, that’s when it’s really difficult.”
