CHECK leaving contestants traumatised
got there, they put me in the same green room as Chanelle. It was a horrific experience.”
A worried friend called police to her house because he was so scared she would kill herself.
She said: “I didn’t sleep for five days. I had to move friends in because I couldn’t be on my own.
“I remember walking into a road and not caring if someone knocked me down – and I have two young girls.
“I’d just cry and I wouldn’t be able to tell you why I was crying. I sent an email to the producers and said I needed to speak to the psychiatrist I’d seen.”
She claims they refused her request despite being told she would have aftercare for a year. Rebecca was eventually prescribed antidepressants and has arranged her own therapy. “Because of my experience on the show, I always think people are going to hurt me, mentally and emotionally. My therapist has helped me see that it isn’t right,” she said. But she was dealt a further crushing blow in June when pal Sophie, who was on Love Island in 2016, took her own life. Rebecca, famed for founding an all-women detective agency to nab love rats, refused to believe the tragic news at first. “I found out through Twitter. I’d typed out a message to her saying, ‘Sophie, guess what? There’s a fake news story going round that you’re dead’. Something stopped myself from sending it. I thought I’d better check and it was true.
“I was in massive, massive shock. I still can’t believe it. I spoke to her two days before she died. She seemed happy.
“I cursed myself. When my mental health was bad, she said she was sorry it had been so bad for me.
Welfare
“That’s what really upset me afterwards. She knew I’d struggled and she still didn’t say anything when she knew she could. You always think, ‘What if she’d picked up the phone?’ I’d have gone straight up to be with her.
“It’s not weak to speak about how you feel. I tried to cover it up at first and for a long time I didn’t realise how ill I was.”
A CBB spokeswoman said: “Big Brother takes contributor welfare extremely seriously and has robust assessment and welfare systems in place.
“All potential contributors are thoroughly assessed by psychologists and a team dedicated to contributor welfare is on hand to support housemates both during and after the series.”
A Love Island spokesman said: “All of our islanders are offered psychological support before, during and after their time in the villa.
“We take our duty of care very seriously.”
A photograph on the firm’s website shows the grinning star surrounded by the rest of the team with boss Adam’s arm draped over this shoulder.
Users are told: “Adam is one of our property executives, he sources new potential acquisitions and assists with the management of both the residential and commercial sides of our portfolio.
“... as well as appearing in the occasional promotional video!” Adam appeared in more than 800 episodes of the ITV soap before quitting after almost a decade. He came third on Celeb behind Joel Dommett and winner Scarlett
Moffatt.