‘Love Island’ contestant Camilla Thurlow has opened up about the pain she suffered at the hands of Jonny Mitchell and his treatment of her on the show.
Viewers cried with the bomb disposal expert as they watched Jonny make a move on Tyla Carr while he was coupled up with Camilla on the ITV2 series, before he then dumped her to be with her rival.
Speaking to HuffPost UK and other journalists following her return to the UK, Camilla admitted she would have felt so much better about the situation had she known the huge amount of public support she had back home.
“In that moment, I felt so alone. Just when you feel completely by yourself in your own sadness,” she said.
“I’d never dealt with those emotions before because I’d always had something else to focus on because work was always a big thing for me.
“I felt so by myself, so to hear everyone was actually there with me is an unbelievable feeling that people were protecting me without me even knowing it.
“At that time, if I’d have known that, it would have made the world of difference.”
Her new beau, Jamie Jewitt, who finished in second place with her during Monday (24 July) night’s final, also slammed Jonny for “jumping ship” so quickly after dumping Camilla.
“I really like Jonny, I don’t think he meant any harm and he tried to do right, but just ended up causing a huge mess,” he said.
“He didn’t deal with the whole thing very well and jumped ship quickly, very quickly. That was brutal that.”
Camilla also addressed the unlikely reality TV moment that saw her challenge Jonny on his anti-feminist views, telling of how she had to stand up for what she believed in.
“When someone brings something up and I disagree with them, I will always state my case,” she explained.
“I don’t want that to descend into tears and tantrums, but when there’s a chance to voice your opinions in a calm way, I would always do that. That’s the way you learn from other people as well.”
During the interview, Jamie was also quick to shut down speculation he had only started a romance with Camilla as he knew how popular she was on the outside, prior to entering the villa as a late arrival.
“At the end of the day, I knew that would be the case when I got in there, but I knew we were the same person,” he explained.
“No matter how much people speculate, I knew I’d be tarred with that brush as soon as I walked it, but I think it speaks for itself who ridiculously well we connected. We’ve got so much in common.”