Love Island star Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, 28, has opened up about “losing every friend she had” after appearing in the ITV dating show.
The Dancing On Ice star, who won the show last year with her boyfriend Davide Sanclimenti, 28, discussed her difficult time with post-show friendships in an interview with Cosmopolitan UK.
“I’ve lost every friend I had,” the actress admitted. “I don’t have any friends. I have one friend and that’s it.
“Unfortunately, with the fame, you see people’s true colours,” she reflected.
“People just want to be your friend because of your status, and it’s a hard industry to trust.
READ MORE: Paedophile TV star Rolf Harris, 93, dies after tell-all documentary airs
“No, I don’t actually have friends left. People I’d known for 10 years who were in my life… Selling stories is not very nice.
“I wouldn’t do that to someone. If they were happy, I would support them,” she added.
“Unfortunately, I had that coming out of the villa, I had to delete people out of my life.
“But I am happier this way. Sometimes keeping your circle small is the best, and you don’t always need friends. So long as you know who you are, that’s fine.”
Ekin-Su and Davide won the competition by a landslide last summer, with a huge 63.69% of the public vote.
Since then, the pair appear to have gone from strength to strength, often documenting their relationship on social media.
Despite her confident attitude, Ekin-Su has also admitted that her mental health has suffered over the past year, crediting her partner for his ongoing support.
“There have been things in my life that I can’t mention now that have affected my mental health for a while,” she said. “I had to keep smiling and pretend everything was fine.”
She added: “Your mental health is your priority. After my trip to the Maldives with Davide, we turned off our phones, we didn’t check the internet. He was helping me forget things [and] the stuff online.”
Read the full interview with Ekin-Su on the Cosmopolitan UK website.
