Former Love Island star Josh Denzel has opened about how his mum's death as a teen has impacted his life.
Speaking in a new interview, the reality TV star explains how he had to "grow up fast" when his mother sadly passed away just two weeks before the presenter was due to sit his GCSE exams.
Adam Crofts, CEO of Prevayl, invited the star, who rose to fame appearing on Love Island in 2018, to chat about his life in the spotlight, how he used the ITV2 dating series to further his career as a presenter, and the impact of his mum dying at a young age.
"I had a normal childhood. But then my mum got cancer in the final months of year 11 and she passed away two weeks before my GCSEs," Josh tells the businessman in the first episode of the Prevayl: Better Begins Here podcast series.
"You have to grow up fast and I had to look after my sister who was three years younger than me, cooking her tea because my dad was at work."
The one-time reality TV star, who now works for broadcasters such as Sky Sports News and BBC Sport, then went on to explain how he had to "block out a lot of nonsense" when grieving his mother.
"So, from that moment it was like, right. Can I manage the school side of things? Can I come home and make my sister tea, can I deal with this? I guess, emotionally, you learn to block out a lot of nonsense," the 30-year-old star confessed.
Since appearing on Love Island three years ago, Josh has forged a successful career out for himself as a sports presenter - recently covering the antics of the England football squad during their Euro 2020 campaign in the summer.
Speaking on the podcast, the presenter admits he signed up for the ITV2 reality TV show in 2018 in a bid to boost his broadcasting career.
The star reveals that he never actually applied to take part in the hit series - instead receiving a message from ITV one day - and admits he very almost turned the offer down.
Josh had initially wanted to travel to Russia with SportBible for the 2018 World Cup but changed his mind when he realised that appearing on Love Island could "kind of fast track" his career ambitions.
"Then I thought, “what could this do for my career? What could this do for my social media presence?” If I want to go and work, maybe it's not exclusively for sport, but what do my own thing with my own platform?" he explains during his podcast chat.
"You go in not knowing what's going to happen [in the villa].. And you think the worst-case scenario is my profile will rise amongst an audience that maybe used to watching Champions League football."
He adds: "The more eyeballs are on you, the more you can show your personality, the more work you get in general. That was always the plan to be a presenter. And Love Island kind of fast track the whole process."
Prevayl: Better Begins Here is available on to listen to now on Apple Podcasts
