Love Island star Alex Miller has defended producers of the ITV2 show, after they came under fire following the death of Mike Thalassitis.
The 26-year-old was found hanged last Saturday in a park near his childhood home in North London and ITV bosses have been rounded on by those that felt they didn't do enough to help reality stars with mental health issues following their time on the show.
Alex admitted during an appearance on Access All Areas with Lizzie Cundy and Stephen Leng that he considered suicide after spiralling into depression following the end of the show.
On the same show though, he has said that Love Island producers should not be blamed for Mike's death.
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Speaking up for the show's bosses, Alex said: "They can’t be pro-active all the time and keep chasing and keep chasing.
“There are so many contestants, it’s impossible for them to do.”
Earlier in the show, Lizzie Cundy confessed she knew Mike as Muggy Mike, despite the reality star not acting up to his TV persona, in real life.
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She said: "He called me Cougar, I called him Muggy!
"He liked me calling him Muggy. I know there are a lot of quite upset other Love Island contestants saying ‘Don’t call him Muggy’, but we had a joke and I always called him it, and he didn’t mind."
Lizzie also revealed that she believed that there was a promising future for Mike but he had been affected by certain stories that had been written about him.
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The 49-year-old said: "He had a lot of exciting things happening. I mean, there was a lot written about him, people had said a lot of things about him – stories he said weren’t true – and that did get to him.
"I said to him ‘Read what people say about me! Try to flick it off.'"
The TV presenter then had tears in her eyes when she recalled that she hadn't answered the phone to Mike, when he called about ten days before his death.
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With emotions running high, Lizzie said: "I actually feel terrible."
Stephen Leng replied: "You can tell. You look a bit upset now."
Despite 28-year-old Alex exonerating the producers over their aftercare, it has already been announced that Love Island will be undergoing an overhaul to ensure that those entering the villa are given enough support when they leave the show.
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Recalling his own struggle after being dumped from the villa, he said that show producers eventually got in touch with him after they had seen a worrying rant from Alex on Instagram .
He said: "I had a little rant on Instagram. I went through a bit of a dark patch and luckily one of the producers follow me on Instagram saw the rant got in touch with me and put me back in touch with a psychiatrist.
“Looking back, all I needed to do was be forward and go talk to them. ”
Alex says the therapy helped and he's trying to move on with his life.
If you're struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free phoneline open 24/7. Call 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org if you'd prefer to write down your feelings .
