Love Island’s Megan Barton-Hanson says she was so stressed she lost weight in the villa
‘In the villa, I lost a lot of weight through stress’
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Your support makes all the difference.Former Love Island contestant Megan Barton-Hanson has opened up about the pressure she felt during her time on the ITV show, revealing she was so stressed she lost weight.
The model, who appeared in the fourth series of the show last year, has previously spoken about her struggle with mental health issues and body image.
On Friday, the 25-year-old appeared on Good Morning Britain and revealed that she spent the majority of her time on Love Island struggling with her mental health that she lost her appetite.
“In the villa, I lost a lot of weight because of stress,” she said.
Describing appearing on the programme as an "unknown situation", Barton-Hanson added: "I didn’t know what was happening so I was very on edge.
‘Since I’ve come out, I’ve put on weight because I’m happy and enjoying myself.’
Barton-Hanson’s revelation comes hours after 2019 Love Island contestant, Amy Hart, revealed producers of the show had forced her to eat following her breakup from fellow islander Curtis Pritchard.
“When I wouldn’t eat, [the producers] would stand over me and make me eat a bowl of food or I couldn’t do the challenges,” she said.
Hart, who left the programme earlier this week, told The Sun that the aftermath of the split meant she lost her appetite.
“I felt so numb. I didn’t feel hungry,” she added.
The 26-year-old also said that she decided to leave the show in order to prioritise her psychological wellbeing.
“I chose my mental health over the reality show,” Hart said.
”I was in a very horrible place over the last week, to be told that the gloves were off with Maura and I had to ‘brace myself’, like a storm. I knew I had to leave when I did.
“It’s not nice. I have to put myself and my sanity first.”
Despite her mental health worries since appearing on the show, Hart praised Love Island’s duty of care, which had previously been placed under scrutiny after former contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis took their own lives.
“I used to be a bit scared of therapy and since going in the villa I love it,” Hart said.
“They gave me tools to deal with it. They were on call for 24 hours.”
Earlier this week, Barton Hanson posed naked for newly-released images alongside model Tess Holliday for fake tan brand Isle Of Paradise's latest body positivity campaign.
Talking about her self-confidence on Good Morning Britain, Barton-Hanson said she is “proud” of the images and hopes to inspire other young people to accept who they are.
“You can decorate the outside shell but really to feel good inside you need to work on it, and for me it was therapy and I think with age you get more confident in how you look,” she told viewers.
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