Entertainment
Ex-Love Island star Niall Aslam hits out at ‘set-up’ show and claims he was told who he could and couldn’t talk to
Former Love Island star Niall Aslam has hit out at the ‘set up’ programme and claimed the show ‘wasn’t as it seemed’.
The 25-year-old reality stare – who stunned fans when he walked away from the ITV dating show back in 2018 – has previously opened up about suffering from stress-induced psychosis following his brief stint in the villa.
Taking to TikTok, he has now teased telling his full story in a video titled ‘How I went from being in Love Island to a psychiatric hospital in nine days’.
He said: ‘Before Love Island I was a normal social work student in Coventry, and call me naïve but I used to think the show was all as it seemed.
‘As some of you may know, I have autism spectrum disorder – that the show were aware of because they get your whole medical record.
‘This might explain why I thought the show was all as it seems as I’m quite a literal thinker. When I got there, there were loads of little things that I didn’t see coming.
‘I thought you could just chat to whoever you want but it was all very set up in ways of like: “Don’t talk to her”, or, “No, you like that person”.
‘I’m quite an unpredictable person and I think they want to be able to know what you’re going to do next. The stress of this on top of quite a lot of other things started to really get to me.’
Niall promised to add more videos in the future and urged fans to like and comment on the post.
An ITV spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: ‘We fully supported Niall during and after he left Love Island and in line with his and his family’s wishes.
‘Our medical suppliers are contracted to look after the health and wellbeing of our Islanders. They have no input into the editorial side of the show.
‘All Islanders are free to make their own decisions regarding who they couple up with and the public vote or format decides who leaves the island, not producers.’
Speaking earlier this year, Niall – who was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome when he was 10 – revealed he’d shared his full medical records with producers, who decided he was fit to fly out.
He claimed the production team didn’t make any adjustments for him in the villa, and allegedly ignored his requests for ‘simple’ food ‘simple’.
He felt manipulated over one storyline involving a love triangle, adding to MailOnline: ‘Perhaps I was naïve but the programme is pitched as contestants going into the villa to find the person of their dreams – not, as actually happened, being put with someone who the production team wants you to be with.’
After a week in the villa – which he claims included just one consultation with an on-site psychologist – he distanced himself from the group, and got ‘very stressed’, leaving the team concerned.
On day nine, he met with the series counsellor and executive producers and put into a car, although he claims he didn’t know where he was being taken – and even wondered if he had won the show.
He was taken to see a doctor in Palma, returned to set – where there was no ITV doctor – and the team contacted Harley Street’s Sophia Khalique, who worked for the show at the time.
He was given Xanax for his anxiety, and producers phoned his mother Maureen and urged her to fly to Majorca.
When Niall’s GP was unable to fly out to Majorca, bosses decided to send him back to the UK on a private jet, and he was then taken to the Nightingale psychiatric hospital in Central London, with ITV paying for his care.
After leaving the show, he issued a statement and revealed his Asperger’s diagnosis, while thanking ITV for its help and support.
However, he said earlier this year: ‘I was told to talk about the aftercare ITV had given me. But there I was, sitting in a psychiatric hospital. Now, it all feels like such a cover-up.’
In response to his comments, an ITV spokesman said at the time: ‘We fully supported Niall during and after he left Love Island and in line with his and his family’s wishes.
‘Our medical suppliers are contracted to look after the health and wellbeing of our Islanders. They have no input into the editorial side of the show.’
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