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Love Island’s Georgia Steel reveals major decision about future as she lifts lid on death threats & agony of Toby split
And she's reached out to another Love Islander who made a similar decision to hers
LOVE Islander Georgia Steel has revealed she had to block suicidal thoughts when faced with death threats from vile trolls.
The model made it to the final of the ITV All Stars spin-off show in February but has now revealed she wants to quit the world of reality TV after receiving hundreds of vicious messages on social media.
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In an exclusive chat with The Sun on Sunday, Georgia, 26, said she was on the brink of spiralling into a dark place.
Asked if she had suicidal thoughts, she said: “I don’t want to use that term lightly at all as so many people are affected by suicide and my heart goes out to them, but there were times where I was thinking, ‘What is the point? Everyone hates me’.
“That is literally how I felt, like everyone hated me, and if it wasn’t for my family and my really, really close friends and their support then who knows, I could have gone down the road of suicidal thoughts.
“That’s why I want to speak out, because not everyone has a support network around them and it is those people we need to protect the most.”
READ MORE ON GEORGIA STEEL
Georgia made it to the show’s final with her now ex Toby Aromolaran, 25, in February.
However, her family were subjected to vicious trolling while she was on screen after Georgia was seen flirting with fellow Islanders Callum Jones and Tom Clare.
After quitting the TV villa, Georgia said she did not leave her home for a week after she was told of the horrendous death threats her family had received.
‘Really dark paths’
The beauty was forced to turn off her phone and moved back in with her parents in Thirsk, North Yorks, in a bid to hide from the online trolls.
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She said: “I definitely, definitely felt trapped. If it wasn’t for my family and friends then that could have been really dark.
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“There are a lot of people out there who don’t have the support network that I do.
“I am glad it happened to me rather than anyone else in there because I know I can get through it.
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“I have the support to get through it and I can get through it.”
She continued: “We have seen it first hand when people come off television shows and have gone down really dark paths and something needs to change before it is too late.”
Of her family support, she said: “Whenever I have some doubts or think, ‘Oh God, am I awful? Am I an awful person? Am I bad?’ I ask them.
“You don’t know who the trolls are, so they could be anyone, that is what is scary.
“I could be walking down the street thinking, ‘Oh God, is she the one who wants to kill my family?’ That is the worst part.
“And when people came up to me and asked for a photo, I’d think, ‘Are you one of the trolls?’
“I was scared my house was going to be egged or that something bad would happen to my car.
“I refer to my family home as my little retreat.
I needed my family around me at that time, with nothing else to stimulate me
Georgia Steel
“It is in the middle of nowhere, with loads of trees and no one sees you because you are surrounded by nature and animals.”
Speaking through her tears, Georgia added: “I will get emotional here, but I just want to be a good person and I am still figuring that out.
“I needed my family around me at that time, with nothing else to stimulate me.
“That was the best decision because they reminded me that I am OK and helped build my confidence back up.
“They are my mum and dad, for heaven’s sake.”
Georgia said her parents contemplated contacting the police after they were forced to turn off comments on her Instagram account.
She said: “My brother got messages like, ‘How could you have a sister like this’, while my mum got, ‘You should be so disappointed that you raised a girl like this’.
“I hate saying these things out loud because it is just awful.
“The police can get involved but they can’t really do anything. These are people on anonymous accounts and we have no idea where they are, who they are or where they are from.
“My goal now is to stop it, and the way to do that is to get Instagram and TikTok to take a bit of responsibility with the trolling.
The police can get involved but they can’t really do anything
Georgia Steel
“Those are the companies that can change it, just by putting in a driving licence or something like that when you sign up. It would stop it all.”
Georgia said she has since reached out to fellow former Love Islander Ekin-Su Culculoglu, who quit social media following her stint on ITV’s Celebrity Big Brother last month.
Ekin-Su, 29, became the fourth housemate to be voted out of the house, which also starred former X Factor judge Louis Walsh and ex-This Morning host Fern Britton.
Hate and trolling
However, Big Brother faced accusations of bullying and ITV was hit with hundreds of Ofcom complaints when Ekin-Su appeared on the Late & Live spin-off show following her eviction.
Georgia said: “I have reached out to her, I really like Ekin and I support her now.
“When I look back at the episode where she had loads of hate and trolling, that whole episode was about Ekin, it didn’t show the other people who might have had a row.
“You need to be really open-minded in these conversations — they are entertainment shows and if everyone was only shown at their best then there would be no entertainment.
“Producers need to show people at the times when they could be controversial.”
ITV’s aftercare team were in touch with Georgia when she left the show.
Georgia also announced last month that Toby had called time on their relationship after they came fourth in the show.
Of the split, she said: “It was over the phone and he just said it wasn’t working.
“I don’t know whether the distance came into play. I feel like I didn’t see that coming as such, but everything happens for a reason and there are no hard feelings.”
I don’t want to do anything that can be taken out of my control or alter how I am perceived
Georgia Steel
She added: “I don’t carry hate within me, that is not me. That is done and parked and I’m moving on with my life now.”
Georgia has said she wants to distance herself from reality TV after previously starring in Channel 4’s Celebs Go Dating, Love Island Games and Celebrity Coach Trip.
Asked if she is ready to quit, she said: “Yes, 100 per cent. I have made a concrete decision. I don’t want to do anything that can be taken out of my control or alter how I am perceived.
“I am 26 now and I don’t want people to think that I am someone I am not, so I have taken a step back.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
“I would love to do Strictly Come Dancing or pursue serious avenues where I am not the entertainment as such.
“But reality TV, yeah, I will wash my hands of that one now.”
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