Love Island: Jacques explains why he left the villa in shocking tell-all interview
‘Doing Love Island was the worst decision of my life,’ he said
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Your support makes all the difference.Former Love Island star Jacques has explained his shock departure from the villa.
The rugby player left the show during the 12 July episode, with his decision coming after he lost his temper over the arrival of 2018 contestant, Adam.
Adam had expressed interest in Paige, whom Jacques was coupled up with.
Adam’s introduction on this year’s series came after a tough week for Jacques and Paige due to Jacques’ behaviour following the annual Casa Amor twist.
Jacques ultimately decided to stick with Paige despite the fact he developed a bond with new contestant Cheyanne. Paige was swiftly told about Jacques’ antics away from her, following which she distanced herself from Jacques, who spent days trying to win her back.
After discovering Adam had “slagged” him off, Jacques got angry, branding the contestant “f***ing nothing”.
The next day, Jacques told Paige he was “struggling” and that he was disappointed in himself for letting his emotions take over. “I’m finding it hard in here,” he admitted, adding: “I’m trying to put a brave face on it but things are getting to me.
“I just wish I could finish my journey with you in here, but I’m gonna go home today.”
In a new interview with The Sun, Jacques explained that he was worried he might attack Adam. “I thought if I don’t get myself out things could go horribly wrong and I could get physical,” he said.
“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.”
He added: “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.
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“I dealt with stuff in there that I’ve never dealt with in my life.”
Jacques also opened up about how the experience affected his mental health, saying he “couldn’t cope” in the villa and adding: “Doing Love Island was the worst decision of my life.”
He said he was “ready to break down” and was “feeling so mentally drained” when he left.
Jacques revealed that, after leaving the main villa, he was kept in a separate apartment with a security guard and two producers.
He said it was only after two days that they gave him his phone back and allowed him to call his mother.
During those two days, he managed to access the internet using the TV. He searched his name and was crushed to see “everyone hating me”.
Jacques’ mum Janet told the publication: “At first he was his funny self, but when it started to change I got horrible messages on Facebook, people saying they wished my son and I were dead. It was awful.
“I was seeing him change on TV. I could tell he wasn’t himself.”
Jacques said he has watched the Casa Amor episodes “to torture myself”, adding he was “disgusted” by what he saw.
Jacques will appear on Love Island discussion show Aftersun today (17 July).
Love Island airs at 9pm on ITV2 every day other than Saturdays.
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