TV personality and former Love Island star Maura Higgins has opened up about the challenges she faced with her mental health after leaving the hit ITV2 series.
In a candid conversation on the We Need To Talk podcast with host Paul C. Brunson, Maura recounted a worrying incident involving a phone call with a friend from Ireland that she had no memory of.
The 33 year old shared with Paul: "I remember my girlfriend back in Ireland. I was in a hotel, I don't remember any of this because she had to fill me in. All of a sudden I'm outside my hotel room, the door is shut behind me and I'm on the phone to her."
"I've no recollection of how I got there, where I was, what I was doing and she was crying and she was going 'Maura, are you ok? ' and I remember going, 'What the hell is going on?' And she was like 'No Maura, you're actually scaring me and she was like where are you? ' and I was like 'I'm outside the hotel room, what is going on?'.
"And she went 'You were asleep, I called you, you woke up and all you kept saying is, 'I'm not allowed to sleep, I can't sleep, I can't do this'. I was obviously just not mentally OK. I think I was just so overworked, and I'll never forget it."
Maura also admitted to feeling "overworked" and discussed other concerns about her mental wellbeing following her stint on Love Island, revealing: "If I was to turn back time I would have not taken on as much as I did and...ITV gave me my own show after Love Island", reports the Irish Mirror.
"Honestly, Love Island, ITV, they were incredible and I know a lot of people have their own thing to say about it but I had someone calling my phone every single day...making sure I was OK but to me because I had so much going on, I looked at that as just another thing to do that I don't have time for.
"But when I filmed my own show at ITV, thinking back, I honestly don't even know how I did that. I was in a terrible headspace even one day during filming I broke down in front of all the producers and I'm not a crier, it takes me a lot to cry."
Maura revealed to Paul that her mental health had deteriorated to the point where she contemplated more extreme measures, but it was a friend's intervention, via her agent, that ultimately aided her recovery.
Maura explained: "I didn't want to be here anymore, I thought that was going to be the best thing. I felt like there was so much expected from me and because I was there on my own, I've just nobody to help. People say moving house is stressful, moving country whilst being thrown into the public eye is terrifying.
"My girlfriend back in Ireland...called my agent at the time behind my back, she's a queen and she basically demanded that I come back to Ireland for a break and I got to go home. I can't remember how long for and I just had my home comforts, my mommy, my family, my best friend, I slept."
If you or someone you know has been affected by this story, Samaritans (116 123) operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year. Alternatively, you can find more information on the Samaritans website: https://www.samaritans.org/
English (US) ·