Love Island's Jacques O’Neill announces HUGE career news
He quit the Love Island villa last year
Professional rugby player Jacques O'Neill had his contract with Castleford Tigers terminated when he signed up to appear on the eighth series of Love Island in 2022, but now it seems he's rekindled his relationship with the professional club.
Jacques, who sensationally quit the show following the breakdown of his romance with co-star Paige Thorne, has announce he's re-signed for professional rugby team Castleford Tigers.
Sharing the post from the team, the caption reads: '𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗝𝗔𝗖𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦 We are pleased to announce that Jacques O’Neill has re-signed for the Club on an initial contract until the end of 2023!' (sic)
Jacques spoke of his delight to re-sign for the club, telling castlefordtigers.com: “I just can’t wait to be back playing the sport I love again and being back around the ground with the boys. Hopefully, in the near future, I’ll be back playing competitive rugby again because it’s been what I’ve been thinking about doing since I came out of Love Island.
“I’ve always wanted to play rugby again; it’s never been the case that I didn’t want to come back to it. It’s what I’ve loved doing since I was a child.
“The support from the Cas fans when I left the show was absolutely massive to me. When I came down to The Jungle for the first time and everyone was there supporting me, it meant so much.
“I can’t thank them enough and hopefully I can get out on the field soon and repay them for that support that they’ve shown me.”
Jacques' friends, fans and fellow Love Island stars were quick to congratulate him.
Chris Hughes wrote: 'Well done mate, head down now 💪🏼', with Luca Bish adding: 'Proud of you 👏'. Liam Reardon then wrote: 'Go on son 👏🏼'. with 2023 Islander and fellow rugby player Keanan Brand writing: 'Ha the boy is back 🔥'. (sic)
Check out which other Love Island stars returned to their former jobs:
Dr Alex George
Dr Alex George is probably now best known for being the country's Mental Health Ambassador. He starred on Love Island in 2018, taking a sabbatical from his job as an A&E doctor to try and find love. He returned to his old job just weeks after returning from the villa and has gone on to use his platform for good ever since.
Greg O'Shea
Love Island 2019 winner Greg O'Shea, who won the show alongside Amber Gill, was a law student and a rugby player before he became a reality star. In 2020, he returned to his sport and competed in the Tokyo Olympics but announced he was retiring from the sport after the games.
Anna Vakili
Anna left her job as a pharmacist to appear on Love Island in 2019. After the show, Anna joined her co-stars and explored her career as an influencer. However, in 2020, she decided to return to her medical background during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Priya Gopaldas
Priya entered the Love Island villa as a bombshell in the 2021 series and stood out in her entry VT because she was a 5th year medical student. Since leaving the show, Priya has championed the NHS and didn't think twice about continuing her journey to becoming a doctor. In March 2023, she shared the wonderful news that she passed her finals and is now officially a Doctor!
Amber Davies
Love island 2017 winner Amber was studying musical theatre before she entered the villa. Instead of becoming a full time reality star, Amber landed her dream West End role in 9 to 5: The Musical in 2019. In 2022, she's starred in a lead role in Bring It On, a musical adaptation of the 2000 teen film.
Faye Winter
Love Island 2021 star Faye Winter hasn't been out of the villa very long, but she has already revealed plans to go back to her job as a lettings manager by launching her own property company.
Georgia Townend
Georgia may have only been in the Love Island villa for less than 72 hours, but she's been making a HILARIOUS impact on social media ever since. Aside from her hilarious posts and Tik Toks, Georgia has also returned to her old marketing role at LIDL Head Office.
Paige Thorne
Paige won our hearts as she appeared in the 2022 series of Love Island, introducing herself as a Paramedic from Swansea. In September 2022, just months after finishing in fifth place on Love Island, Paige took to her Instagram to show off her uniform as she prepared to return to being a Paramedic!
However, although Paige was all set to return, she recently revealed she wasn't allowed back due to posting pictures in her bikini online.
Coco Lodge
2022 Casa Amor bombshell Coco Lodge certainly made an impact when she appeared on the show. Shortly after leaving the island, Coco returned to her former job of selling shots inside clubs. Featuring in the Channel 4 documentary Untold: Life After Love Island, Coco revealed how due to brand deal money taking a while to come in, she needed to return to being a shot-girl to pay rent.
Jacques O'Neill
After having his contract terminated so he could take part in Love Island 2022, Islander Jacques O'Neill re-signed for the professional rugby club in May 2023.
Tom Clare
Just weeks after leaving the Love Island: All Stars villa as a winner alongside Molly Smith, Tom Clare announced he'd re-signed for football club Macclesfield FC. Sharing the news on Instagram, Tom told fans: 'Back home ⚽️💙'.
Sanam Harrinanan
After winning Winter Love Island in 2023, social worker Sanam Harrinanan announced in August 2024 that she was heading back to her day job, revealing she's completed her new qualified year as a social worker.
Kai Fagan
Sanam's Love Island fiancé Kai Fagan also announced he'd returned to his day job as a PE Teacher in September 2024. He told fans on Instagram: 'First, week back working in Education 📚👨🏽🏫 I've always said I'd return and after the whirlwind of the last few years now is the perfect time🙌🏾
'I was offered a role to work part-time teaching Sports and I jumped at the opportunity. This allows me to continue to do everything I'm currently doing but also provides me with the opportunity to follow my passion and continue my career in education.
'I've always believed that in life you should aim to make a positive impact on others. This is why I pursued my career, so I can be impactful in education and help young people to fulfil their potential, whilst achieving their dreams.
'Being a teacher is something that I worked extremely hard for studying for 5 years, whilst balancing my own education with Rugby and Work'.
Upon his arrival as a bombshell into the Love Island villa last Summer, Castleford Tigers confirmed they'd released Jacques from his contract.
The statement said at the time: 'Castleford Tigers can confirm that the Club has agreed to release Jacques O’Neill from his contract to allow him to pursue another opportunity.
'The Tigers have the first option to sign O’Neill back next year should he wish to return to rugby league.
'Known for a fearless attitude on the field by Castleford supporters, the Cumbrian born 23-year-old is a proud product of the Tigers’ youth system having come through both our Scholarship and Academy programmes before making his Super League debut.
'Castleford Tigers would like to wish Jacques well with his new opportunity and thank him for his efforts as a Tiger so far.'
Although Jacques was a fan favourite on the show, the 23-year-old chose to quit the show in order to attempt to save his relationship with Welsh girl Paige.
Breaking his silence after arriving back in the UK, Jacques emotionally told fans: '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)
Jacques will return to Castleford Tigers from 3rd May 2023.
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