Love Island's Jacques O'Neill was in in tears as he spoke about the pain of seeing his mum struggling amid receiving death threats while he was on the show.
The ex-rugby player, 23, spoke of how he was left "numb" after deciding to leave the famous villa, and wanted to return to his pre-fame life, after receiving backlash from the public over his behaviour on the show, particularly towards Paige Thorne after he played away in Casa Amor.
However, the hardest thing after leaving the villa was watching his mum struggle with the reaction from the public, including trolls who sent vile death threats over social media, Jacques said, as he spoke on ex Love Islander Scott Thomas' podcast.
Jacques, who is signed to Scott's talent agency, had to pause to wipe away tears as he spoke about what happened right after he left the villa and how he felt.
"The hardest thing was like seeing my mum, how she was... it was like, you know me and my mum... seeing my mum being in a state how she was."
As tears welled up his eyes Jacques said: "I couldn't even leave the house", before he took a moment to wipe his eyes and collect his thoughts.
Later, Scott asked specifically what his mum had been struggling with, to which Jacques replied: "The death threats, man."
Jacques, who has ADHD, said that when he left Love Island, he was put in a holding villa.
"My mum was like, 'Get out, Jacques. Just get out right now, get home. Just leave'.
"I was kicking off and was saying, 'Get me a flight right now, I just want to be with my mum'. I knew she was in a bad place, she was breaking down on the phone."
Jacques went on: "When I got home, she went, 'Jacques, we can't go out. We can't go out. Like, everyone hates you'.
"I just wanted me and my mum to be okay," the TV star said.
"It killed me to see the way my mum was," Jacques added, going on: "I couldn't speak to her about deep stuff because I'd just break down. It took me two weeks to give her a cuddle."
The 23-year-old was accused of bullying fellow contestants during his time on the ITV2 show, with Remi Lambert speaking out to share his negative experiences with the rugby player.
Following this, Jacques said he is focussed on "becoming a better version of himself" in an Instagram post.
He also addressed the situation in lengthy statement on social media, writing: "I genuinely have no bad feelings towards anyone and I've not meant for anything to come across that way at all. It was not my intention and I'm genuinely sorry if it has."
"I take full responsibility for my actions. I'm aware I'm far from perfect and that there is work that needs to be done on myself."
