Maura Higgins has opened up about the “very scary” time after she left the Love Island villa.
The Longford native entered the villa as a bombshell in 2019, and has become one of the most popular contestants to ever appear on the show.
In a candid new interview with the Irish Independent, the reality star recalled feeling “overwhelmed” and “very alone” when the show ended, admitting she never thought she would get better.
Maura said: “I remember doing jobs when I first came out and I remember sitting there with a lump in my throat because all I wanted to do was cry. I remember that.”
“But there are so many times I actually can’t remember a lot of stuff. Someone will say something to me and it was like I wasn’t there. I was there in body but not in mind, which is quite scary.”
“You probably wouldn’t have known this at the time but when I came out of the villa my head was everywhere. It was so jumbled, I didn’t know where I was. I had moved straight over to England and didn’t get back home.”
“I was living out of a hotel for weeks with nothing but a case full of Love Island bikinis. And I had so many interviews and personal appearances… I will never forget how stressed I was.”
The 30-year-old continued: “I was very overwhelmed. I didn’t know where to turn and I had nobody around me except the people from Love Island. All my family and friends were in Ireland. It was just a very, very scary time. Very scary.”
“Oh my god I felt very, very alone. Very alone. At one stage I remember thinking, ‘I don’t even know how I am going to get myself better.’ I remember I didn’t even speak to my mum or best friend about it. But they knew by me that I was not OK.”
“The thing is, when you come out of that show you kind of feel it’s a stupid thing to say you are not OK. Because – well, this is how I felt at the time – [she worried] that the people looking in on your life were going to say, ‘Oh my God, how can you be complaining or sad? You have just done Love Island. Everyone loves you. Look at all of these jobs and opportunities. Look at your life.’”
“And I didn’t want to talk even to my family about it because I felt like maybe I would sound stupid.”
Maura revealed the “best thing she ever did” was take a break, adding: “I am finally content. I am finally back to myself. Actually Mammy said it to me.”
“It was about a year after Love Island, and I remember we had a FaceTime call, which we do every single day, and she started crying. And I said, ‘What’s happening? What’s wrong?’ And she said, ‘This is the first time I’ve seen you back to yourself.’”
Maura, who is dating Strictly Come Dancing pro Giovanni Pernice, will now host a new show on RTÉ called Glow Up Ireland, which begins on September 2.
