Georgia Steel has admitted she felt like everyone “hated” her following her appearance on Love Island: All Stars this year.
The 26-year-old was subject to “vile threats and nasty messages” during her time on the show, which continued after she left the villa.
Speaking to Sky News about the trolling she has faced, Georgia said: “I don’t think anyone can kind of prepare you for that.”
“You don’t really know how to process it… you’re quite scared. You don’t know if the whole world hates you – I felt like everyone hated me.”
Georgia said the worst part was knowing her family and friends had also been sent abuse, and had seen the comments written about her.
“It made me question everything I did,” she continued. “It made me feel like I didn’t know myself to a certain degree… My family, my friends, they had death threats.
“My mum got messages like, ‘How could you raise a girl like this?’ I just want to make the people that support and love me proud. I know that they still are. But it makes me worry that they’re not.”
The 26-year-old took a break from social media after leaving the villa, and said: “I needed to rebuild my confidence.”
“I spent it with my mum and my dad and my brother, and I just wanted reassurance constantly. ‘Have I done anything wrong? What could I have done better?'”
Georgia said she accepts that she was the “villain” of the series, but noted: “I am still a person. I’m a [young] girl, I’m still learning my way. I’m not perfect.”
“If anything, me making mistakes on a show, it shows that I’m genuine and that I’m real. But instead, it was kind of used against me… is it because I’m a woman? Is it double standards? I don’t know.”
The reality star also lamented trolls who hide behind anonymous accounts.
“It’s like going into a shop and wearing a balaclava and abusing someone… these people are hiding behind anonymous names and fake accounts,” she explained.
“There’s definitely times when I’d be out and thinking, they’re looking at me… ‘Oh my God, is that one of the trolls?’ It makes it really scary because you just don’t know who they are.”
Georgia believes social media platforms need to do more to stop the influx of anonymous trolls.
“It would just be literally having an ID when you sign up to an account or having some proof of who you are, instead of constantly going behind a screen and being anonymous,” she said.
“That’s what I really don’t understand. I don’t understand how that’s allowed, if I’m honest.”
While she was deeply affected by the trolling, Georgia feels lucky to have such a good support system around her.
“I’m very lucky,” she said. “I want to admit: I got trolled really, really, really bad. And yeah, it really, really, really affected me. But I am okay. And some people, if they were in my position, might not be okay.”
“I think some people are built stronger than others or some people have better foundations than others, and the ones that maybe don’t, they’re the ones that we really have to think about.”
Remembering former Love Island host Caroline Flack, who tragically took her own life in 2020, Georgia said: “Caroline presented my show in 2018 and I never expected that to happen.”
“As much as we talk about it and say it’s not okay, I think there actually needs to be something set in place, before it’s too late and something else happens, and then it’s just a vicious circle.”
“It’s, ‘we’ll be kind for a bit, and then we’ll forget about it, and then someone else… then we’ll be kind for a bit again’. That circle needs to stop.”
In a final message to online trolls, she added: “Would you say this to them if they were sat across the table? Would you say things to their family and their friends? Would you be happy if the consequences were really bad?
“It could just take that one comment that tips someone over the edge. Would you want to be accountable for that?”
Georgia spoke out after confirming her split from Toby Aromolaran last week.
