Amy Hart was forced to eat by ‘Love Island’ producers after she stopped eating in the villa following her break-up with Curtis Pritchard.
The former flight attendant fell in love with the ballroom dancer on the ITV2 reality dating show only to have her heartbroken when he confessed he was having doubts about their relationship and eventually ended things with her.
Amy, 26, has now confessed that Curtis’ behaviour triggered her anxiety and she wasn’t able to eat anything but the care team on the programme soon stepped in to ensure she was having meals and was OK to stay.
She said: "I have had mental health issues in the past but I was reluctant to accept it. I didn’t admit that I had anxiety until a couple of years after I first started my job flying at British Airways.
"My previous anxiety issues manifested within food. I would order the biggest dinner you’ve ever seen and take one bite and start shaking, crying and saying I can’t eat this anymore. I felt like wasn’t in control of the rest of my life – I was convinced I was going to get sacked, so food was my control thing.
"I lost a stone in my first six months in BA and when Curtis finished with me I wasn’t hungry and wanted to control my [diet] again but ITV stepped in and made me eat as the psyche was watching me all the time."
Amy believes that her quest to get onto ‘Love Island’ was detrimental for her mental health as getting into the villa became an "obsession" for her.
However, the blonde beauty has nothing but praise for the care team on the show insisting the support she and all the contestants received during their time on the programme was first rate.
And for Amy and all her co-stars this mental health care has continued as they have mandatory therapy sessions provided by producers and she insists that they have been proactive in their efforts to ensure she is fine post ‘Love Island’.
She said: "The welfare girl came in every single lunchtime apart from one day a week to check how much water we were having, how much we’d eaten and how we were. And when it all went t*ts up for me and I was lying in bed crying at lunchtime, she would get into bed with me and just stroke my head and talk to me and now I speak to her on the phone twice a week to check how I am.
"We’ve been given 18 months of sessions as mandatory from ITV and then we can have more if we want them afterwards. I’m very unorganised and busy at the moment so I let my psyche sessions go and [my welfare rep] ended up phoning my manager and saying, ‘We need to get a date in Amy’s diary when she’s free,’ so they are really on it."
Amy was speaking as part of Heat magazine’s Where’s Your Head At? campaign (#wheresyourheadat) to get mental and physical health to be given parity of treatment in workplaces and colleges.
To get help on mental health issues and find out how you can support Heat’s campaign go to www.wheresyourheadat.org
You can read Amy’s full interview in this week’s issue of Heat on newsstands on Tuesday (08.10.19).
Amy Hart stopped eating in Love Island villa after Curtis split
