Charlotte Crosby has warned wannabe reality stars to “think twice” about signing up for TV shows.
Following the sudden death of Love Island star Mike Thalassitis, who took his own life last weekend, fans slammed the show’s producers for not offering enough support to contestants after they leave the villa.
In wake of Mike’s death, Charlotte was asked what advice she’d give to young people hoping to pursue reality TV.
She told The Sun: “I’m not one to give advice, but I think it’s something you really need to think about. You can’t really rush into it.”
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“I think with recent things which have been happening, it’s something you have really got to think twice about.”
The news comes after fellow Love Island star Alex Miller, who appeared on the show last year, revealed that he contemplated suicide after leaving the villa.
Speaking to Lizzie Cundy and Stephen Leng on Access All Areas, Alex said: “I did go through a dark patch where I would look at bridges and think ‘Yeah, I could drive into that’.”
“I was in a dark place [after the show]. It was winter time, there was a lot of factors coming up, knowing that everything was sort of coming to an end like getting back into the old routine in the job.”
Despite his comments, Alex doesn’t believe the show’s producers are to blame, and revealed how one reached out to him on Instagram when he was feeling low.
He said: “I had a little rant on Instagram. I went through a bit of a dark patch and luckily one of the producers follow me on Instagram saw the rant got in touch with me and put me back in touch with a psychiatrist.”
“Looking back, all I needed to do was be forward and go talk to them,” he said. “I didn’t want to talk to anyone about it, but after having ranted after answering a fans questions and speaking to the Love Island psychiatrist, it got me through it and gave me a plan on how to take my life forward and now we’re here. We’re all good!”
Further defending the show’s producers, Alex insisted that it’s “impossible” for them to “keep chasing” contestants – because there’s so many of them.
The news comes after Love Island bosses announced their plans to offer future contestants therapy and pre-show training.
Programme executives carried out a review six months ago, and said, “This review has led us to extend our support processes to offer therapy to all Islanders and not only those that reach out to us.”
“And we will be delivering bespoke training to all future Islanders to include social media and financial management. The key focus will be for us to no longer be reliant on the islanders asking us for support but for us to proactively check in with them on a regular basis.”
If you have been affected by anything in this article, please visit www.pieta.ie or call 1800 247 247.
