Maura Higgins has opened up about taking care of her mental health following her appearance on last year’s Love Island.
The reality star has revealed she felt “overwhelmed” by her success on the show, which changed her life instantly.
Speaking to Jennifer Zamparelli on RTÉ 2FM, the 29-year-old admitted: “At the beginning, it was hard to digest everything.”
“Coming out was just so overwhelming. I remember I started getting anxiety just from pure exhaustion.”
The Longford beauty revealed the best thing she decided to do was prioritise her mental health.
“The best thing I did was I took a step back and said ‘You know what? I’m having a few days off, I’m going back to Ireland, spending time with my family.’”
“I think you need to listen to your body and your mental health is so so important. If you need to take a step back – do it.”
Maura previously got candid about her mental health in a no-makeup Instagram post for International Mental Health Awareness Week in May.
“We are all human, we all have our bad days, bad photos, bad angles etc,” she wrote, “Being in the public eye we have the privilege of having stylists, makeup artists, PT’s etc.”
“But behind all that glam and social media we are just normal people…I have been trolled my whole life like many people & the best thing to do is IGNORE IT!”
“Focus on you, your mental health & your well being physically and mentally. And if there’s times you are struggling, don’t suffer in silence, please talk to someone.”
Despite Love Island’s popularity, it has come under fire many times in the past for the affect it has had on the mental health of former contestants.
Two of the shows past stars, Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis, took their own lives following their appearances in the villa.
And earlier this year, the show’s former host Caroline Flack took her own life at the age of 40.
The TV presenter was found dead at her flat in London on February 15th, after she found out she would go on trial for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend Lewis Burton last December.
Following the deaths of Sophie and Mike, Love Island bosses made big changes to their aftercare procedures.
They also gave contestants a 27-page contract before appearing on the show, detailing the “potential downsides” of being on such a popular reality show.
On this week’s episode of the Gosscast, Goss.ie Founder & CEO Ali Ryan opens up about her own experiences with double standards, gender inequality and sexism both in the workplace and in society in general.
Joining her this week is top Irish fitness coach Kiki Fit, who opens up about her own troubling experiences with harassment, as well as the struggle to be taken seriously as a woman in business.
