Maura Higgins says she was struggling to keep roof over her head before 'Love Island'

Love Island star Maura Higgins has told how she was struggling to keep a roof over her head before she went on the show.

The brunette, 29, made a name for herself when she appeared on last summer’s series of ITV2’s dating show, and also found a boyfriend in fellow contestant Curtis Pritchard.

Read more: Love Island’s Maura ‘very happy’ with Curtis

Opening up in a belated New Year post on Instagram, Higgins admitted she was “unhappy” a year ago despite what her life may have looked like on social media.

She said: “(Bit late) Wishing everyone a very happy & healthy new year!

“I honestly can’t put into words how incredible my 2019 has been, to think this time last year I was so unhappy and struggling to keep a roof over my head... you can achieve anything you put your mind too!!”

“A lot of you would have looked at my social media and thought wow ‘she has an incredible life’ to all of the young girls reading this, please remember Instagram is NOT real life!

“We can all filter, photoshop, edit etc (guilty) but we never know what is actually going on in a person’s life, so for 2020 please remember to be kind.”

The reality TV star said she was “incredibly grateful” for all of the support she had received in the last few months, adding that 2020 was “going to be even bigger”.

Read more: Maura says psychic predicted Curtis proposal

Higgins’ career has gone from strength to strength following Love Island – since her stint in the villa she has bagged a string of modelling jobs and has become a contestant on the new series of Dancing On Ice.