Greg O'Shea is 'glad' he left the celebrity life behind to come back and play Rugby Sevens for Ireland after they sealed Olympic Qualification over the weekend.
The 26-year-old won reality show Love Island in 2019 and looked destined for the big time as he amassed over a million Instagram followers, but the Limerick man returned to Ireland in pursuit of his dream.
And as he re-established himself as part of the Irish Rugby Sevens team, he left much of his celebrity life behind in search of Olympic qualification.
Ireland sealed the final ticket to Tokyo on Sunday with a dramatic 28-19 win over France, with late call-up O'Shea featuring heavily in their qualifying run.
O'Shea said: “I could have easily gone down the celebrity route, moved to London, do the red carpet, do the events and make my hundreds of thousands like everyone else does. I was like, ‘No, I am coming home.’
“I have spent so many years with this sevens team. It is never about the money. It is common knowledge you don’t get paid a lot in sevens, it was just about the work we put in.
“I couldn’t sit over in London on my high horse and watch the boys training and maybe getting to the Olympics. I almost wasn’t here.
He added: “I am so glad I made the decision two years ago to come back.
"I'm honestly speechless. This is the thing of dreams. This is the pinnacle of sport and we did it.
"I'm so proud of the boys. I'm not even supposed to be here. Initially I wasn't even picked and now I'm standing on the pitch."
