Love Island star Alex Miller has revealed he considered taking his own life after his stint on ITV2’s reality TV show last year.
Miller’s comments come almost a week after fellow Love Island contestant Mike Thallisitis died by suicide.
Speaking to Lizzie Cundy and Stephen Leng on their Access All Areas radio programme on Thursday, the 28-year-old explained how he suffered from a bout of depression as he settled back into his old job months after filming the show.
“I did go through a dark patch where I would look at bridges and think ‘Yeah, I could drive into that’,” Miller said.
“It was winter time, there was a lot of factors coming up, knowing that everything was sort of coming to an end like getting back into the old routine in the job. It was going back into the reality of it."
The TV star added that fame is “not all it’s cracked up to be”.
While Miller said that Love Island could do “a bit more” in terms of psychiatric aftercare, he praised the producers for getting back in touch with him after he’d had “a little rant on Instagram” after he'd experienced suicidal thoughts. They encouraged him to go see a therapist.
“Looking back, all I needed to do was be forward and go talk to them,” Miller recalled before praising the therapist for helping him re-introduce structure into his life. “Talking to someone got me through it,” he added.
When asked about Thallisitis, Miller insisted that Love Island should not be blamed for his death.
“They can’t be proactive all the time and keep chasing and keep chasing,” he said of the producers. “There are so many contestants, it’s impossible for them to do.”
For confidential support on mental health call Samaritans free from any phone, at any time, on 116 123 (UK & RoI) or email jo@samaritans.org. In the US call 1-800-273-TALK or chat online.
