HEADING into the Love Island villa knowing you’re going to be watched by millions strutting around in a bikini is no doubt a daunting prospect.
As a result some former Islanders, including Shaughna Phillips and Ellie Brown, have admitted their weight yoyo-ed before and after the show.
Now series two bombshell Rachel Fenton, 30, admits she too felt pressure to look a certain way, and even risked her health to get what she deemed to be the 'perfect body'.
Speaking to The Sun, she confesses she starved herself and followed a strict exercise regime, all while working gruelling 13-hour shifts as an NHS nurse.
When she left the villa and put some weight back on, she says she was horrified when photos of her in a bikini on holiday with Rykard Jenkins – her boyfriend at the time – attracted cruel comments.
She says: “I just went back to eating normally and I was obviously going out a lot, drinking alcohol.
ON LOVE ISLAND
Love Island winners rich list shows who’s made most & there’s a clear trend
Love Island star looks unrecognisable as we revealvilla transformations
"I put on quite a bit of weight after I came off, I think being in a relationship as well at the time, I didn't feel so much pressure.
“There were pictures of me on a beach and I saw comments everywhere saying ‘She's pregnant,’ when I wasn't. That was really horrible.”
Rachel says she was hand-picked to go on Love Island by producers who found her on Instagram.
Despite the show not being as popular then as it is now, Rachel admits she felt pressure to "look good" for her big entrance.
Most read in Love Island
Love Island fans 'disgusted' after brutal dumping & new arrivals 'turn heads'
Love Island viewers spot Ron's furious reaction to Kai coupling with Samie
Love Island fans in shock as new couple emerges afterundeniable ‘chemistry’
Megan Barton-Hanson sizzles in sexy lingerie with fellow Love Island star
8
8She tells us: “I was doing these 12-13 hour shifts at work, I was barely eating and I was going to the gym afterwards.
“I don't even know how I did it now but I remember losing loads of weight – but then my boobs went. I didn't look that nice."
'Addicted' to free Botox and fillers
After being on Love Island, Rachel claims she was shocked by the amount of places that offered her free Botox and fillers – and she became addicted to them.
“I’d got a tiny bit before the show, but I got so much of it after," she admits.
“I was just doing it because people offer it to you for free, and it’s always just any old person.”
She’s since had it all removed, and says she feels much better about herself.
Rachel adds: “It’s just a little outdated now, and since Molly-Mae [Hague] filmed herself getting hers dissolved, it’s become a trend to be more natural now, which I think is a really good thing.
“It took me ages to pluck up the courage to actually get mine out, but I'm so happy I did.
“It makes you look younger when you have it!”
'Pressure' on Rykard romance
Rachel and Rykard only knew each other for eight days before she was dumped from the island – and he followed her.
During the show Rykard had slept with Olivia Buckland – who's now married to Alex Bowen – while Rachel was in the bed next to them.
Rachel says fans became very invested in their relationship, and while it was "great that people cared", she also found it put pressure on their relationship.
She recalls: “I had no idea that it had become so popular and how invested people were in my relationship on the show and what was going on afterwards.
“It was so overwhelming and so bizarre to me that so many people were so obsessed with it, but was nice because people really cared about the show and cared about my time in it.
“But there was a pressure on our relationship, in a sense.
It was so overwhelming and so bizarre to me that so many people were so obsessed with my relationship
“We were bonded by Love Island, and so many people would always ask if we were together or if I was out without him, they would ask about the relationship and would want to know what was going on.
“We were together for a reasonable amount of time afterwards – about a year and a half – but I think the pressures of the show and what to do next is why it just didn't work in the end.”
Rachel says she soon realised the showbiz lifestyle wasn't for her.
She says: “I was going to so many fancy things, launches, the National TV Awards, all these things that I would never have dreamt of doing, and given all these paid sponsored promos.
“It was just so overwhelming, because I didn't really expect it. I didn't really know how to handle it either… I was so unprepared for any of the attention and going out all the time.
"It was event after event, and you felt pressure to go to even though you'd want a night in to chill.
“I was still in a relationship at that point too, so you're still learning about each other and trying to handle this 'outside life'.”
Recognised at hospital
Rachel returned to work as an NHS trauma nurse, having been given unpaid leave to go on Love Island.
She says: “I think that was probably the best thing I could have done because it got me back into the routine of getting up in the morning, going to work and then not going out as much.
“I think that was a really positive thing for my mental health and stability. I just enjoyed going back to what I knew.”
At first Rachel said she'd get recognised by patients – some even asked her for selfies while she was wheeling them down the corridor.
“I was so embarrassed by it!" she says. “Patients would ask for pictures and I was like, ‘I don't know if I'm allowed to do this’.
“I didn’t want people to know who I was, because the hospital was like my safe place – I liked being nurse Rachel rather than 'the Love Island girl'.”
Life in Dubai
Rachel still works as a nurse to this day, but has moved to Dubai and says her life is a “lot more stable”.
“At the time of coming off the show, you become obsessed with thinking what can I do?" she says.
“You put so much pressure on yourself to keep up this personality that people think you should be… I think now I'm a lot more content in myself.
“I'm really happy that I've moved to Dubai. I'm still nursing out here and I love my job and things are just a lot more peaceful.
Read More on The Sun
Mum spots a creepy detail whilst looking back at the snaps of her baby boy
I’ve saved £1,000 on rent living in a 5-bed house for free – how you can too
“I don't feel too much pressure about Instagram stuff anymore. I just post what I like to post and that's it.”
The Sun has reached out to Love Island for comment.
Source: Read Full Article
