Marcel Sommerville says months after Love Island were the ‘worst period' of his life

Former Love Island star Marcel Somerville has said the aftermath of the show felt like the "worst period" of his life.

The rapper was giving evidence at a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee hearing on reality television when he made the comment on Wednesday.

He appeared in front of MPs alongside 2019 Islander Yewanda Biala, telling them that being filmed in the villa was the easiest part of being in the ITV2 series.

The hardest part, Sommerville added, was coping with the sudden fame and attention he received after jetting back to the UK.

The rapper said: “You are in the spotlight. No matter what you do, anything that happens there is going to be a story about it.

“Public break-ups – everything that happens. You are like, ‘this is the worst period of my life’.

“That was the worst period of doing Love Island.”

In the villa, Sommerville began a relationship with Gabby Allen.

They eventually split 10 months after leaving the show, amid claims Sommerville had been unfaithful.

Suggesting Islanders need more help and support, he continued: "Six months down the line when you are fully into dealing with the fame."

Somerville said that after he left the show, he only had contact with producers because of other projects he was working on.

Beyond that, the former contestant said, there was no support in place.

“You are kind of left to your own devices. It wasn’t like a big thing of them contacting you," he said. “It wasn’t much of a, ‘how are things going now?'”

Ahead of the most recent series of Love Island, ITV announced detailed and thorough aftercare plans.

The broadcaster had faced increased scrutiny following the sudden deaths of two former contestants, Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis.

Following the latest hearing, an ITV spokesperson told Standard Online: "As a producer and broadcaster ITV takes its responsibilities around duty of care to participants very seriously. Supporting the physical and mental health of everyone involved in our programmes is our highest priority.

"ITV constantly strives for best practice in all our programmes, and last year we asked Dr Paul Litchfield, a former Chief Medical Officer with extensive experience of working with large companies and Government in the area of mental health, to independently review our processes on Love Island. This review led us to extend our support processes for this year’s series to a level that we consider industry-leading."