Maura Higgins has heartbreakingly revealed she thought about taking her own life after being "thrown into the public eye" five years ago.
The former ring girl from Ballymahon in Ireland, 33, shot to fame on Love Island in 2019 when she entered the villa as a bombshell. Despite not winning the show, which made stars out of former couple Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury, Maura was hot property when she left, saying "everyone wanted to work with her".
However, suddenly being uprooted from her native Ireland and "dropped to the UK' took its toll as the model told Married At First star, Paul C Brunson on his We Need To Talk show: "It was very hard. I was dropped to the UK, in the public eye, had nowhere to live, no friends, no family, no-one I could trust."
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ITV)Explaining that work so busy she didn't even have time to "wash a pair of socks", Maura said she was "so tired" before admitting her smiles were "fake' and that things got "pretty dark".
When asked by Paul how dark things were, she bravely replied: "I didn't want to be here anymore, I thought that was the best thing. I felt like there was so much expected of me and because I was there on my own, there was nobody to help. Moving country while being thrown into the public eye is terrifying."
Thankfully, Maura's best friend in Ireland intervened and called the influencer's then agent. Maura explained: "My girlfriend back in Ireland called my agent at the time, behind my back; she's a a queen. She basically demanded that I come back to Ireland for a break." After time in Ballymahon with her "home comforts" and beloved "Mammy", Maura rallied before returning to the UK.
Last week, the reality star shone when she rocked up on the red carpet for the Mirror's Pride of Britain Awards. In photos shared before the event, Maura was also seen getting preened and pampered by her glam team before heading to the event, which celebrates the country's unsung heroes.
She captioned one of her posts taken at the ceremony, in which she stunned wearing a form-fitting dress,: "PRIDE OF BRITAIN. A truly special night." As well as telling her how well she looked, people couldn't help compare Maura to Hollywood icon, Audrey Hepburn.
One person simply wrote on her post: "Audrey Hepburn," while another posted a gif of the late Breakfast at Tiffany's star. Meanwhile, a third gushed: "Nobody does Hollywood glamour like Maura Higgins! Queen!"
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