Former Love Island winner Dani Dyer has revealed the effect that the sudden fame the show brought her had on her mental health.
Dani emerged from the villa as winner last year, alongside ex-boyfriend Jack Fincham, after the pair won over the public with their romance which lasted almost their entire time on the show.
With Love Island now over for another year, Dani spoke to the Telegraph’s Stella magazine, discussing how she sought out additional psychological help once the aftercare offered by ITV was over.
“It can be very tough,” she told the magazine, on life after Love Island. “I spoke to a psychologist from the show before I went on and afterwards. I had several calls from the producers checking if I was OK.
“And a few weeks after the show, when I felt overwhelmed and said I needed to speak to someone, they put me in touch with a psychiatrist.”
It was well-documented that Love Island had made big changes to their aftercare system ahead of the fifth series earlier this summer, after facing increased scrutiny over the suicides of former contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis within a year of each other.
This included a minimum of eight therapy sessions after leaving the villa, as well as social media and financial management training.
The most recent series of Love Island was also the first not to feature the “lie detector challenge”, a move which won the praise of former contestant Dr Alex George.
Love Island’s new approach to aftercare has been lauded by recent contestant Amy Hart, who has been very candid about having spoken to psychologists both before and after leaving the villa.