'Love Island' star issues warning to 2024 contestants as she admits dating show left her in 'dark place'

A former ‘Love Island’ contestant has issued a stark warning to the men and women taking part in this year’s series as the popular ITV 2 dating show prepares to lauch for 2024.

Malin Andersson has shared some advice for those who are going to enter the iconic villa for the 11th series of the show later this summer. The reality TV personality, who appeared on the show back in 2016, has admitted that she went to a “dark place” after her time on the show.

Malin, now aged 32 and a mum, appeared on the second series of the show, and said that she and her fellow islanders were left surprised when they were thrust in to the spotlight immediately after leaving the villa and returning to normal life. The contestants have no contact with the outside world while they are living in the villa and Malin said she wasn’t expecting to become famous.

Reflecting on this now, Malin has warned that people should only take part in the show, and other reality shows, if they know that they can deal with sudden fame - including the negative aspects.

Speaking to the ’MailOnline’, she said: "Coming from a reality TV background - who I was when I came out of ‘Love Island’, it's a very dark place to be. And that happens with a lot of these shows.

"If you know can stand on your own two feet and say you're cool with all of the stuff that comes with it, I say do it. But what I didn't know was that I thought I could deal with it at the time, and when I came out I couldn't. And then I went through so much trauma, that made it worse.” She issued the following advice: “I think if you have things in your mental health to work out and know that you can't do it, then don't chase the fame, chase the healing."

Since appearing on ‘Love Island’ Malin has faced many personal tragedies - and they have played out in the media. The first was the death of her one-month-old daughter, Consy, in January 2019. Consy died shortly after Malin's mum, also named Consy-Gloria, died from cancer. In January 2022, Malin gave birth to another baby daughter, named Xaya.

Her dad also died of cancer when she was just a baby, and she struggled with eating problems throughout her childhood. She suffered domestic abuse from her ex-partner, Tom Kemp, who is the father of Consy. He was jailed for ten months for the abuse in 2020. She also split from her boyfriend Jared, who was Xaya’s dad, shortly after the birth of her now two-year-old daughter.

Malin turned to drugs and alcohol to help her cope with all of these difficult circumsntaces and ended up undergoing a stint in rehab. Speaking about this to ’The Sun’ earlier this year she said that it took her some time to accept she had a problem with substance abuse. She said: “I would drink a lot. It could be three bottles of wine, or champagne, or whatever, then shots... Drugs weren't involved all the time, but they were if I was with the wrong crowd. Then I'd go back to normal and that would last for a few weeks - then the cycle would be repeated again."

Malin also shared during the interview that she's met many people in the entertainment industry who are unhappy and depressed due to excessive drinking or drug use, but did not reveal the identities of the people she was talking about.