Jacques O’Neill has broken his silence on his decision to quit Love Island.
The 23-year-old sensationally left the villa on Tuesday night, after admitting to his fellow Islanders that he wasn’t enjoying himself anymore.
The rugby star has since admitted signing up for the show was “the worst decision of his life”, and said he worried “things could go horribly wrong” if he did not leave.
He told The Sun: “I thought if I don’t get myself out things could go horribly wrong and I could get physical… Doing Love Island was the worst decision of my life.”
“I was ready to break down. I was feeling so mentally drained, I just wanted to go home and get myself right.”
“It broke me and I was already broken. I was crying my eyes out. I couldn’t cope. I was literally feeling awful. It was the worst I’d ever felt in my life.”
Jacques continued: “At home you can remove yourself from situations, but in there you had to deal with every situation, and in that moment I took my microphone off, and walked straight through the front doors because I just wanted to get out of that place.”
“Producers tried coming to me, they were like, ‘Jacques, are you OK? I was saying, ‘I don’t want to speak to you or anyone. I want to be left to myself.’ It was too much.”
“I was saying to them, ‘This is more than a TV show to me’, it was genuine feelings involved and my headspace wasn’t right to be in a TV show. I dealt with stuff in there that I’ve never dealt with in my life.”
The reality star, who revealed he actually left the villa last SUNDAY, also claimed he told producers had ADHD before the series began.
He said he was coaxed back by bosses the day after his exit, as the did not want to see him go, and had a “welfare chat”.
Jacques explained: “In the end I couldn’t deal with it, I wanted to get out of the place. I was crying, saying to them, ‘I’m ready to go home’.”
Prior to Jacques’ shock departure on Tuesday, he got into a heated discussion with Paige after finding out bombshell Adam had “slagged him off”.
He said: “Who the f**k is he? Just another geezer that has been on the show? He’s f**king nothing mate.”
Paige replied: “Alright, well keep that in mind so… you don’t need to rise to it and be like bitey with it. Like what does it actually change? Nothing.”
Jacques said: “You know what I get like, if a boy’s going to chat s*** behind my back, I don’t f**king have it.”
Speaking about the heated moment, Jacques told The Sun: “Any little thing in the villa, in the end, started bothering me and I was just getting in so much of a rut.”
“I know the way I spoke to Paige was wrong. I tried to apologise and she kept asking why I did it. ADHD isn’t just about not being able to concentrate. It’s also about feeling anxious quite a lot, being on edge a lot.”
After leaving the main villa, Jacques was kept in a separate apartment with a security guard and two producers.
During that time he managed to get on to the internet using the TV and search his name, and was horrified to see “everyone hating me”.
He also said: “I watched the Casa Amor episodes to torture myself and look at my actions. I was disgusted in myself, I understand the hate. I’m feeling quite numb. I will wait for Paige on the outside, but I’m not watching the show again, I can’t do it.”
A Love Island spokesman said: “We cannot comment on any individual’s medical records.”
“However, we have rigorous and extensive checks in place to assess Islanders’ physical and mental health in advance of being cleared to enter the Villa. This is something we take extremely seriously.”
“Jacques made the decision to leave and we respected that decision. We would never put pressure on someone to stay in the Villa.”
