I was so self conscious I had to wear trousers into school...people still say I’m too skinny & look ill
Star attacked by trolls over reality TV show
Love Island can be toxic and has had its day in terms of the format
around you and I’m very lucky with my friends Chloe, and then Coco from Love Island.”
Still single and dating, Nicole admitted it’s tough to find a decent man.
She revealed Netflix hired her to promote its hit docuseries The Tinder Swindler after an ex conned her out of €8,000.
She said: “That fella wasn’t a great experience, over the last few years my mam and dad are like, ‘You know how to pick them’.”
Nicole admitted she finds it hard to trust men now after a string of failed relationships.
She said: “I’m always kind of conscious being like, are they looking for something off me in terms of publicity or do they want money?
Even though I’m very trusting, I’ve had my managers [saying] ‘you need to cop on a bit because sometimes you can trust too much and people are selfish and do want to take you for this and that’.
“Ninety per cent of the fellas I date end up being absolute d***heads.”
Nicole described her time on Ex on the Beach as a “bizarre” experience.
She said: “That show is all about toxic relationships. It was the weirdest experience ever.
“It was American MTV. Producers told me it was five days quarantine [during Covid].
“Then I’d go in, and I was like, OK, grand. So they took my phone.
“They had me in this little hotel room. After the five days came, they said you’ll go in tomorrow. “Seventeen days had passed, I had no phone and wasn’t allowed to leave the room as it was prime time Covid. “It was a bit traumatic for me. It felt like a prison.” Nicole has joined forces with Irish DJ Marty Guilfoyle for their new single, a twist on Kylie Minogue’s Love at First Sight, set for release on March 3. With a degree in commerce under her belt, talented Nicole comes from a family of musicians and plays piano, drums and guitar. She explained how she’s fighting to shed the reality star label: “I’m done with reality shows.
“It’s so hard to get taken seriously in music, it’s such a struggle, because I am known for Too Hot to Handle.
“So trying to rebrand yourself is very difficult, but it is a long road. “It was my decision to do that show. “I feel so blessed that it gave me all my followers.
“Sometimes you nearly have to work twice as hard to get that branding of Too Hot to Handle kept away from you, I have to undo it now.
“Even looking at Wes Nelson, he’s done so well, he’s in the top 40 loads but he still gets people saying, Love Island’s Wes Nelson.”
Nicole set up an online Mental Health platform, called Loved, during the pandemic. She said: “I’m on the hunt for a new therapist now. But writing music is massive therapy for me.
“You’re taking control of your own mindset and what you want to do and trying to better yourself.
“I think therapy is such an amazingly brave thing to do.”
As for finding love, she reckons she’d have more luck finding a man on an island in Ireland than London.
She joked: “Maybe I should take a trip to Inisheer as things aren’t working out for me in London.
“I feel like it is hard to get serious with people. Because there’s just such a choice out there.
“You’ve got dating apps at the touch of a finger.”