Yahoo News Love Island's Alex Miller considered suicide, but producer helped him through "dark patch"
Love Island contestant Alex Miller has opened up about his own struggle with mental health following the tragic death of fellow former Islander Mike Thalassitis.
Alex, who briefly appeared on last year's series, reflected on his experience after leaving the show, admitting to FUBAR Radio that he was "in a dark place" after Love Island had finished.
"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," he explained (via The Sun).
Related: Love Island's Olivia Attwood says ITV2 show isn't to blame for Mike Thalassitis' death
Alex went on to say that he had struggled to return to his regular job after leaving the villa, and that "reality fame" was "not what it is cracked up to be".
Fortunately, after writing "a little rant on Instagram" about the difficult time he was having, Alex was put in touch with a psychiatrist by a Love Island producer.
"I went through a bit of a dark patch, and luckily one of the producers [who] follows me on Instagram saw the rant, got in touch with me, and put me back in touch with a psychiatrist," he said.
"Looking back, all I needed to do was be forward and go talk to them."
Miller also defended the series' aftercare system, arguing that it would be "impossible" for them to be "proactive all the time" – a sentiment that is not shared by all former cast members of the reality series.
In light of recent criticism, ITV confirmed earlier this week that it will be "extending" its existing aftercare process for Love Island, confirming that it will "offer therapy to all Islanders and not only those that reach out to us".
A statement from the channel read: "We will be delivering bespoke training to all future Islanders to include social media and financial management. The key focus will be for us to no longer be reliant on the islanders asking us for support but for us to proactively check in with them on a regular basis."
We would encourage anyone who identifies with the topics raised in this article to reach out. Organisations who can offer support include Samaritans on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org), and Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk).
Readers in the US are encouraged to contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255 or visit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
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