Greg O'Shea: 'On the face of it I had everything, but I was so lost — I wanted it all to end'
Greg O'Shea. Photograph Moya Nolan
Former Love Island winner and Olympian Greg O'Shea has opened up about experiencing suicidal thoughts after retiring from Rugby 7s and being "cancelled" following his appearance on the reality TV show.
The Limerick native, who shot to fame in 2019 when he appeared on the ITV show, told Ryan Tubridy on Friday night's Late Late Show, "on the face of it I had everything, but I was so lost".
The 27-year-old, who now has his own fitness app and presents the Six O'Clock Show, said he was like "a deer in the headlights" when he left the villa in 2019, having won the top prize with then-partner Amber Gill.
"I didn't even know what was going on. I was just getting through everything," he shared, admitting that Love Island was never part of his life plan, "it just happened in my off season".
His relationship with Amber Gill came to an end the night before his post- Love Island appearance on The Late Late Show back in 2019 - and just five weeks after the show had wrapped filming.
At the time, it was reported that Greg had broken up with Amber over text - something Greg denies.
"I probably should have bit my tongue, got through the show, and had the chat on the Saturday," he said.
"I just got lambasted by the English media for 'stealing the money,' for going home.. people didn't realize that I was trying to follow my dream, my lifelong goal of going to the Olympics.
Speaking about losing hundreds of thousands of followers overnight, Greg said "[the] people that followed me were teenage girls from England who wanted to see me with my top off."
"I went back to my life. I was trying to get to the Olympics, do my law exams. People didn't care about that part of my life."
The rugby player said things really began to get difficult after his appearance at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
"The height of depression for Olympians happens after it," he said.
"You spend four years working for something and then Monday morning, it's gone."
The Rugby 7s player said he retired from a sport he "didn't want to retire from".
"Rugby was the love of my life... like a lot of ex-professionals, I felt like I'd lost my identity."
On top of that, Greg said the abuse he was getting following Love Island had continued to pile in.
"In those two years, I'd been getting abused with death threats, losing 1000s of followers every day... then they started texting my mom, DMing [directly messaging on social media] my parents, DMing my sister, DMing my teammates.
"I remember one teammate, in particular, got a message saying "when you get to training you should stab Greg in the back."
At this point, Greg said it looked like he "had everything".
"But I was so lost."
The 27-year-old said he tried to open up to someone he was close to about how he was feeling, but he was told they weren't in a position to support him.
"I was spiraling mentally, I was embarrassed... I thought 'I am never speaking to anyone about my feelings again."
"I remember I was driving around Rathfarnham and it just became so overwhelming... I was convulsing in tears, shaking... I just wanted it all to end. I couldn't do it anymore."
"I thought, what's the point in being here anymore?"
Thankfully, Greg said he then made the decision to speak to a medical professional.
Today, Greg says he is busy with his own fitness app and enjoying presenting Virgin Media's Six O'Clock Show.
Asked whether he would do Love Island again, he said he would.
"It's given me such a platform," he said.
The Limerick man also revealed he is single - though he didn't make any promises to Ryan Tubridy about appearing on the show's upcoming Valentine's special for singletons.
- If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please click here for a list of support services.
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