Olivia Attwood says Love Island 'isn't to blame' for Mike Thalassitis' death and reveals reality TV show 'saved her'

Attwood starred alongside the late reality star on the 2017 series
Opening up: Olivia Attwood has spoke about Mike Thalassitis' death
ITV
Natasha Sporn21 March 2019
The Weekender

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Love Island star Olivia Attwood says the show “isn’t to blame” for Mike Thalassitis’ death as she revealed that the villa “saved her life”.

However, Attwood - who starred alongside Thalassitis in the 2017 series – has said that it would be “ludicrous” to blame the show for his death.

Mike Thalassitis - In pictures

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“People are angry and they want someone to blame,” the former Grid Girl told The Sun. “Mike was in turmoil and a lot of his problems weren’t to do with Love Island at all.”

Attwood, 27, also told the publication how being on the reality show had helped her to “find self-acceptance” during a “really tough time”.

She explained: “The year before I went on to Love Island I was on antidepressants and I had a really tough time.

Defence: Olivia Attwood said that Love Island 'saved her' when she went on the show
Dave Benett

“Love Island saved me. I got a lot of heat in the villa for the way I was but after I came out so many girls said how they related to me. I finally found this sense of self-acceptance that I never had before.”

Attwood had posted a picture of the pair, who shared a brief romance on the show, to her Instagram story before sending love to his friends and family.

But the star received a few negative comments online criticising her tribute, including one she shared to her social media page before hitting back at the troll.

A statement from the show said: "This review has led us to extend our support processes to offer therapy to all Islanders and not only those that reach out to us. And we will be delivering bespoke training to all future Islanders to include social media and financial management.

"The key focus will be for us to no longer be reliant on the islanders asking us for support but for us to proactively check in with them on a regular basis."

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