A Love Island star from Norfolk has said her "mental health was in the gutter" after appearing on the ITV show earlier this year.

Ellie Spence, who attended Hobart High School and Wymondham College, joined the 2023 winter cast as a bombshell on January 25.

She spent just over two weeks in the villa, leaving alongside Jordan Odofin on February 10.

Over the weekend, Spence took to TikTok to share her experience on the show and claimed she was bullied by her fellow castmates.

She also accused the ITV welfare team of not giving her support after informing them of her mental health struggles. 

A spokesman for ITV said they do not discuss individual cases but "welfare and duty of care towards our participants is always our primary concern".

In one clip, Spence said: "When I came out of Love Island - a good couple of months after the show had finished - I was going to events and networking and I was having issues with a couple of people."

She explained she received a call from the ITV welfare team a couple of days later and told them her mental health was "really struggling".

"I was going through a lot of personal stuff in my personal life - a family member in a wheelchair, I was moving house, so I was just disorientated," she said. "I said to them that if this carries on, my mental health is in the gutter.

"I feel like I could do something really silly - I feel like I could take my own life if this carries on because this is not what I signed up for."

Spence then claims she was told no help would be available for at least three days over the weekend and the bank holiday Monday that followed.

ITV announced new duty of care protocols ahead of the eighth series which included participants being shown a video explaining how to cope with being filmed 24 hours a day and dealing with social media trolling.

In 2019, The Jeremy Kyle Show was axed from ITV’s schedules amid growing scrutiny of the duty of care that reality TV shows have to participants following the death of a contestant, and Love Island also faced criticism following the deaths of former contestants Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis.

A spokesman for ITV said: "We are unable to discuss or comment on individuals' welfare and psychological support owing to medical confidentiality.

"Welfare and duty of care towards our participants is always our primary concern and we take the emotional well-being of all the Islanders extremely seriously. 

"We are fully transparent about the extensive support we provide before, during and after filming, and are committed to providing this.

"Where an islander requests no further contact from our welfare team, we will always respect that whilst reinforcing that we are available should they need to reach out to us." 

​​Do you need support? Samaritans can be contacted 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, the NHS First Response Service is available on 111 selecting option 2.