Wes Nelson has opened up about life after Love Island, and admitted “It was actually making me quite depressed”.
The 24-year-old rose to fame on the 2018 series of the hit dating.
The reality star placed fourth alongside Megan Barton-Hanson.
Speaking on Will Njobvu’s new Channel 4 documentary Life After Love Island: UNTOLD, Wes explained how he dealt with the fame after the show.
Speaking about the influencer career path most contestants opt for after their stint in the villa, the 24-year-old said: “It was actually making me quite depressed. I’m terrible at social media, I really don’t like stuff like that.”
“I tried, at the start I had a couple deals and obviously you look at it and think ‘that’s a lot of money’ but I ended up miles behind on posts because I wasn’t posting in time.”
“So then I was getting offered more and I ended up giving all the money back and said ‘I’m not doing it anymore’. So I just focused on music and property and did what I actually wanted to do.”
Host Will questioned: “So, for you personally, that stuff wasn’t fulfilling you at all?”
Wes responded: “No, It was actually making me quite depressed, like, real depressed. Really anxious all the time, the whole thing is very, very fake. I don’t wanna be a part of that, I wanna do something different, something that makes me happy.”
After his decision to turn down influencing opportunities, Wes launched his music career with his debut single See Nobody in 2020.
“Everyone was like ‘Oh no, not another influencer trying to do music’, and then we came out and got number three in the charts.”
Will asked: “How did you do it?,” which prompted Wes to say: “That’s what everyone wants to know isn’t it?”
“Do you know what, I always wanted to do it and had a plan ever since I was old enough to hold a plastic microphone. When we came out of the villa, I think we did 200 or 300 [public appearances], but I was performing at them, I was MC’ing not just taking pictures.”
Last year, it was reported that Wes became a millionaire at the young age of 21.
Will questioned: “You became a millionaire at the age of 21?,” to which the reality star said: “I don’t wanna talk about balance, I don’t want to make my identity about how much money I make.”
“You can bet your bottom dollar that I would’ve been in this position one way or the other. Has [Love Island] helped me, has it boosted me? Of course.”Â
Love Island season eight stars Coco Lodge and Ikenna Ekwonna are also set to appear in the Channel 4 documentary.
Paige Turley, who won the winter series alongside her boyfriend back in 2020, will also discuss her experience dealing with Love Island fame.
