Love Island star Jacques O'Neill has made his first TV appearance since his shock exit from the Majorcan villa last week. The 23-year-old rugby player walked from the Love Island villa after he said the hit ITV2 dating show left him 'broken', but claimed show bosses urged him to carry on.
Before quitting the show, Jacques was at the centre of the drama after going through a rocky time with Welsh paramedic Paige. During Casa Amor, which is labelled the ultimate relationship test, Jacques kissed and shared a bed with bombshell arrival Cheyanne Kerr despite appearing smitten with Paige.
During Jacques' desperate plea to win her back, Love Island producers brought back series four contestant Adam Collard, 26, who was best known for shaking things up in the villa back in 2018. Adam quickly showed his interest in getting to know 24-year-old beauty Paige, which ruffled Jacques' feathers.
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On Tuesday night, Jacques was told by his ex Gemma Owen that Adam had been 'proper slagging him off' to Paige. Seemingly riled up, the rugby player told his fellow Islander Billy Brown to "f*ck off" and speaking of Adam he said, "Who the f*** is he? Just another geezer who's been on the show."
Later in the episode, emotional scenes saw Jacques reveal to Paige that he was leaving the Love Island villa after saying he needed to "get back to himself".
Tears flowed at as he told Paige that he felt the best thing for their relationship was for him to return home so he could be at his "best" for her, but encouraged her to stay on the show and "do what you need to do."
After his exit, Jacques revealed to The Sun that he had left the villa last Sunday night (July 10), despite viewers only finding out he had quit on Tuesday, but he says he was coaxed back the day after his exit.
He admitted bosses were concerned before the show about his ADHD which was diagnosed when he was nine, but that he didn’t expect it to be such an issue after he stopped taking the medication Ritalin for it seven years ago.
Admitting he was rattled by the arrival of ex-Islander Adam, 26, Jacques said: “I thought if I don’t get myself out things could go horribly wrong and I could get physical."
Jacques appeared on Love Island's live studio show Aftersun on Sunday night (July 17) to talk about his time on the show and the real reason behind his sudden exit.
Breaking his silence for the first time on TV since leaving, Jacques told host Laura Whitmore: "I needed it, I needed to see the rugby boys and my mum. It got way too much for me in there, it was one of those situations where I didn't want to be there anymore."
Jacques appeared to get teary-eyed as Laura asked about his bromance with Luca Bish, as a montage of clips showed their friendship that had blossomed in the villa, despite Luca now being coupled up with Jacques' ex Gemma.
"About Luca, he's just a great boy. We just got on so well and had a laugh. It would have been boring without us two."
In the same night as Jacques' appearance on Aftersun, viewers saw Adam and Paige share a kiss for the first time.
Speaking of Paige, Jacques' said: "I said to my mum before I went in there that I just wanted to be myself in my next relationship. Literally I told her everything about me, I wanted a girl to like me for who I am. I wanted a best friend and I found that in her.
"She's doing what she's doing now and I said she needed to do that before I left. I f**ked up in Casa, fair enough, I hold my hands up and I regret that. Even after the night of madness with Cheyanne, I woke up the next day and felt sick thinking what had I done.
"In there it was more than a TV show for me, I had genuine feelings and that's why I wanted out because it was all a bit too much."
Reacting to his appearance on Aftersun, fans took to Twitter to share their concern for Jacques after saying he looked 'emotionally drained'.
@chlmrysmth wrote: I know people have an opinion on Jacques (including myself) but I honestly felt for the guy on Aftersun last night. He looked so emotionally drained but the fact he’s held himself accountable shows progress. I hope he heals mentally."
@chlmrysmth said: "I know people have an opinion on Jacques (including myself) but I honestly felt for the guy on Aftersun last night. He looked so emotionally drained but the fact he’s held himself accountable shows progress. I hope he heals mentally #loveisland."
@TJHall81 penned: "Jacques looked like he was close to tears near enough every time they cut to him. Not sure it was the best idea for him to be on aftersun #LoveIsland."
Issuing a lengthy statement on his Instagram page to set the record straight on Sunday, Jacques wrote: "Where do I start.. What a rollercoaster of emotions that was from start to finish! Since leaving the villa I’ve had time to reflect on my time being in there and if I’m going to be completely honest I wasn’t mentally prepared for how it was going to be at all - underestimated it massively.
"The first two weeks of my experience was probably the happiest I’ve been in a very long time. On the other hand the last 2 weeks was definitely the worst I’ve ever felt in my life. I was finding myself feeling worse and worse every day and if I didn’t leave when I did I was scared I would never have got back to my normal self.
Jacques added: "I’ve watched back the episodes that I got the most hate for and listen I understand why I did. I’ve got a lot of work to do for myself to become a better person. I know my family come out and said about my ADHD while I was in the villa but that is no excuse for me. Yes, I might find certain things a lot more difficult than others but at the end of the day I need to take responsibility for my own actions and I’ll hold my hands up.
"I sometimes couldn’t watch how I was speaking and acting in certain situations but I’m actually glad I’ve watched it because now it’s really opened my eyes up and it’s time to work on myself for myself."
A Love Island spokesperson said: "We cannot comment on any individual's medical records owing to confidentiality and our own duty of care towards the Islanders, however we have rigorous and extensive checks in place to assess Islanders' physical and mental health in advance of being cleared to enter the Villa. This is something we take extremely seriously.
They added: "As we said at the time, Jacques made the decision to leave and we respected that decision. Islanders are welcome to leave should they choose to do so and we would never put pressure on someone to stay in the villa."
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