Jacques O'Neill breaks silence after quitting Love Island
He's released an emotional statement
Last updated 18th Jul 2022
Following revelations at Casa Amor, Love Island fans were left in tears last week when 23-year-old Jacques O'Neill decided to quit the villa.
Jacques, who had found a connection with paramedic Paige Thorne, chose to leave the show after not feeling like himself, admitting to Paige he was leaving in order to save their relationship.
Now, as Jacques arrived back in the UK, he has spoken for the first time, admitting he wasn't mentally prepared for the experience.
Taking to Instagram, Jacques said: 'Where do I start.. What a rollercoaster of emotions that was from start to finish! Since leaving the villa I’ve had time to reflect on my time being in there and if I’m going to be completely honest I wasn’t mentally prepared for how it was going to be at all - underestimated it massively!
'The first 2 weeks of my experience was probably the happiest I’ve been in a very long time. On the other hand the last 2 weeks was definitely the worst I’ve ever felt in my life. I was finding myself feeling worse and worse every day and if I didn’t leave when I did I was scared I would never have got back to my normal self!
'I’ve watched back the episodes that I got the most hate for and listen I understand why I did. I’ve got a lot of work to do for myself to become a better person. I know my family come out and said about my ADHD while I was in the villa but that is no excuse for me. Yes, I might find certain things a lot more difficult than others but at the end of the day I need to take responsibility for my own actions and I’ll hold my hands up.
'I sometimes couldn’t watch how I was speaking and acting in certain situations but I’m actually glad I’ve watched it because now it’s really opened my eyes up and it’s time to work on myself for myself..
'I want to finish off and just say how overwhelming it is to see how much support Im getting from you people. If it wasn’t for yous I would be in such a worse head space than I am right now so thank you so much for that. You people that have had my back and messaging I have been reading them every night laid in bed overthinking everything and thinking the worst about everything but you people got me through it. I do really appreciate the love, honestly thank you so much ❤️'. (sic)
Following his exit from the villa, Jacques appeared on Love Island: Aftersun on Sunday (17th July) night, alongside host Laura Whitmore.
Now that Paige is seemingly getting to know Adam Collard, sharing a kiss with him on Sunday night's episode, Jacques said: "We had a good connection and were really getting on.
"I did see things on the outside working between us but as I say, she’s doing what she needs to do."
Check out all of the rules the Love Island stars have to follow in the villa:
No getting drunk
According to 2017 contestant Kem Cetinay, contestants are allowed one small glass of wine or beer a night with dinner.
Being drunk's an absolute no-no, so sex while intoxicated is obviously against the rules too.
No masturbating
No solo sex acts are allowed in the villa, though obviously allowed to get jiggy with their partner.
No nudity
Contestants cannot be naked in front of other islanders, since the villa is technically a public space.
No books, phones or magazines
The islanders are given snazzy phones from their sponsor, Samsung (what else would they get their texts on?); but anyone sneaking their own mobile phone into the villa would risk being removed.
Same goes for books and magazines, too.
No inappropriate language or behaviour
This could cover homophobic, racist or aggressive language and is quite the broad rule. Inappropriate behaviour is again at producers' discretion, and would include violence and sexual harassment.
No discriminating against staff
Any Islanders who are rude to crew could run the risk of being booted off the show, and contestants must NOT take their mic packs off unless instructed to.
Follow the rule book
Simple. Contestants must obey the rule book they're provided with; which includes information on safe sex, consent and how to know if you're following the guidelines.
Discussing his emotional exit with Laura, Jacques revealed everything got too much for him in the villa, telling the host: "I needed to see the boys, my mum. It got way too much for me in there.
"I was in a situation I didn’t want to be in there anymore."
Love Island continues every night at 9pm on ITV2.
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Love Island viewers left in tears at Jacques' emotional exit