he's got bottle
Love Island’s Chris Hughes breaks down in tears and admits he ‘suffered silently’ with mental health battle as he launches new awareness campaign with Calm and Topman
CHRIS Hughes broke down in tears today as he opened up about 'suffering silently' with mental health issues in the past - while launching a new campaign with CALM and Topman.
The Love Island star caused a stir yesterday when he said he was about to launch a new bottled mineral water infused with his own tears, but he’s now revealed that L’Eau de Chris was all a ruse to get men to talk about their emotions.
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At an event hosted this morning to mark World Mental Health Day, Chris admitted that L’Eau de Chris and his shoot with world-renowned photographer, RANKIN, was designed to symbolise the fact 84% of UK men say they bottle up their emotions (YOUGOV), and to raise awareness for CALM, the male suicide prevention charity for which Chris is now an Ambassador.
And to mark his new ambassadorship, Chris is today joining forces with CALM and TOPMAN to launch the #DontBottleItUp campaign to show its ok for men to open up rather than bottle it up.
Speaking at the event after the big reveal, Chris said: “I suffered silently initially and that was the issue, there's the phrase 'suffering silently' and that's where things were tough for me, when I opened up to my mum things became easier and stuff..."
He then became overwhelmed with emotion and started crying – unable to answer any more questions.
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Prior to opening up the floor to questions, the hunky star said: “Yesterday everyone was shocked that I had literally bottled my emotions in a water bottle infused with my tears.
"And as the L’Eau de Chris name suggested, doing that would have been ludicrous; yet this is what men across the UK are doing every single day.
"What's really ludicrous is that suicide is still the single biggest killer of young men in the UK. We live in a culture that encourages men to ‘man up’ and bottle things up. That’s why I’ve become an Ambassador for CALM and why together with TOPMAN we want to show men across the UK that it’s okay to open up instead of bottling it up.”
He continued: “I’ve got personal experience of the benefits of opening up and expressing emotion, which is why I want to work with this incredible charity in its mission to making life less miserable for men across the UK. Our message to all guys is: however, you open up, just #DontBottleItUp.”
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Together, Chris, CALM and TOPMAN are calling on the UK to show its support for the #DontBottleItUp campaign by sharing the #DontBottleItUp film shot by RANKIN on World Mental Health Day. The limited edition promotional run of L'Eau de Chris water bottles created for Chris's campaign launch will now be auctioned at thecalmzone.net/dontbottleitup, with all proceeds going to support the charity.
Additionally, TOPMAN has committed to donate £2 from every pack of TOPMAN boxers sold from 10th – 31st October to CALM, in support of the #DontBottleItUp campaign. To find out more, visit www.thecalmzone.net.
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