LOVE Island star Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu has revealed her horrifying breakdown as she hit “rock bottom” following her split with Davide Sanclimente.
The ITV2 star’s wellbeing took another hit after her stint on reality TV series Celebrity Big Brother, and she admitted she was “gone mentally” during her time in the house.
The All Stars contestant, 30 – who found love with dancer Curtis Pritchard, 29, in the latest series – spoke frankly about her lowest lows, which she said she had experienced “a few times” through her life.
Turkish actress and singer Ekin-Su spoke out on Jamie Laing‘s Great Company podcast, and bared all in a very candid interview.
Addressing when she was at her lowest during her career she said: “It was a few times actually.
“It was after I broke up with my ex, because it was very hard to break up with my ex at the time, because I still loved him.
“Yeah [Davide], and I didn’t speak about it. My family knew, but I didn’t speak about it. Buried that in me.”
Italian businessman and boohooMAN ambassador Davide won Love Island’s 2022 series with stunning actress Ekin-Su.
Yet after exclusively revealing their relationship “struggles” to The Sun, pair split in 2023 before briefly reconciling.
They broke up again, for the final time, in January 2024.
DOUBLE BLOW
Ekin-Su told the podcast how her mental health took another blow as she moved on to further reality TV series.
She added: “Then I did The Traitors US. And then I flew from LA to the Big Brother house – wrong show, wrong time.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Love Island All Stars bombshell reveals Ekin-Su ‘feud’ and admits ‘all of us love Elma’” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6369682681112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]“You know, I was gone at the time, mentally, I don’t think I was
myself. Came back from Big Brother.
“Obviously, there was a lot of hate going on. It was a very low point I felt, because I already felt worthless going in the house.
“‘You deserve to be bullied.’ It is triggering. It triggers things.
“And I was in my flat, and I was just sitting on the floor and just burst into tears for a good three hours, just crying, and I just felt like I didn’t know while I was thinking, is this real?
“Am I? Is this fake? Like, it was a really weird mind thing I was
going through. Felt like this whole thing wasn’t real.”
In a candid confession she added: “I just felt like, what happens if I just went away? Like, surely, that will be a good thing.
“You know, I had just weird things going through my head.”
Ekin-Su previously told how she felt “bullied” on her CBB stint.
During the reality series, her housemates and fans accused her of being fake, playing a role and were also disappointed when she hit out at Only Fans models.
It meant she emerged to a chorus of boos and experienced death threats.
After seeking much-needed help from a therapist, Ekin-Su told how she felt she had “a weight off my shoulders” and “wouldn’t wish” the mental illness on anyone.
She added to Made In Chelsea alum Jamie: “This depression, it’s not real. It’s not who you are.
“Took me a while to get out of it.”
She added: “I had the therapist but I couldn’t even, when I was having my session with her, I couldn’t say I didn’t want to be here.
“But I think she gathered from how I was saying, it was quite worrying.”
ALL STARS RETURN
Ekin-Su told how she was 50/50 on a Love Island comeback – and admitted her parents were “worried.”
Yet the brunette beauty bravely entered as a bombshell in a move which sparked a hugely positive life chapter.
She reached the final with Curtis, and the pair became official as boyfriend and girlfriend.
Ekin-Su added to the podcast of her newfound inner strength: “I feel like if you don’t hit rock bottom in life and you can’t get back up, you’ll always be that low.
“I think when you can get back up, especially when you’ve been through your anxieties as well, like it does make you stronger person.
“You know what the lows feel like.”
