Montana Brown has shared a heartfelt extract from the eulogy she delivered at the funeral of her Love Island co-star Mike Thalassitis.
The reality star delivered the touching remarks at the service held at Christ Church in Southgate, north London, last week.
She shared an Instagram photo of herself sitting on a yacht, gazing into the distance while wearing a wide-brimmed hat, and revealed that she was “taking [her] hat off to big M in the sky.”
Brown then went on to reveal that her followers had been “asking to see [her] eulogy” to her friend, before posting “just a bit of it” in an extended caption.
In the emotive speech, she described the former footballer as “kind,” “generous” and “loved by many people,” and said that she felt “privileged to have been [his] friend,” before urging attendees to “change how you live your life.”
“The last surprise was 2 weeks ago and I can tell you now Mike you surprised us all,” she said.
“I never knew that you were in so much pain, and I’m sorry that you felt like you couldn’t share your demons with me or your family, as I’ve spent some time with them over the past two weeks and they’re the most down to earth, lovely people and I’m so happy you had such a strong support network.”
She went on to say that there were “a lot of people in the room that would give absolutely anything to have [him] back,” adding: “You were so misunderstood, and I feel privileged to have been your friend, and I have to thank you for always being there for me, always sticking up for me and always telling me to stop being such a drama queen.
“You really were the best kind of person and I will always always remember you and learn from this awful situation.”
She concluded by urging “everyone here” to “change yourself, change how you live your life, change how you love your loved ones and also change how you treat strangers.
“I can see a lot of reality faces in the room, please do not let this pass you by,” she added. “It’s so hard, the rejection, the competitiveness, the need to constantly look like you’re ok, on social media.
“So let’s learn from this, we’re all in the same boat, we all have the same stresses.”
Thalassitis, who appeared on Love Island in 2017, died on March 15 at the age of 26.
His funeral was attended by fellow contestants Jonny Mitchell, Amber Davies, Camilla Thurlow and Jamie Jewitt, as well as Love Island presenter Caroline Flack.
