A LOVE Island star opened up about his secret 18-month health battle, saying ‘I felt like my brain was falling out’.
Chris Williamson, 37, featured on the ITV2 dating show’s first series in 2015.
4
4
4
He entered the villa on Day 1, however, he was ultimately “dumped” on Day 19.
Speaking in a video posted on his YouTube channel, Chris discussed his health with subscribers.
In particular, his experience facing toxic mould exposure, Lyme disease and EBV.
In a clip recorded in September 2024, Chris said: “Struggling, yeah, in the last week.
“Five episodes in three days in New York. Two episodes in two days in Florida, plus travelling. Plus a bunch of meetings.
“It’s felt like my brain is trying to fall out of my ears the entire time.
“Memory is really rough, thoughts are very muddy. Getting confused in the middle of sentences.
“So it’s probably the worst that my mind’s been – just disheartening as I’ve been working on trying to get out of all this.
“Mould, EBV, Lyme, whatever it is, stuff for six months, more.
“It’s disheartening. I’ve no idea how far along I am, it feels like I’m going backward.”
Chris also appeared on dating show Take Me Out and has completely reinvented himself following his reality star days and is now a millionaire.
He earned the bulk of his fortune through his podcast, Modern Wisdom.
Chris does not look back fondly on his time on Love Island, stating in a chat with Sadia Khan he was “pretty bored” and having an ‘”existential crisis” while in the villa.
He told the BBC: “I was living this persona of the professional party boy – the big name on campus, the guy with the hair out front [of the club], that wanted people to need him, that thought he had found the culture and industry he belonged in.
“Then I got on to Love Island and had nowhere to hide from people who were the person I was pretending to be.
“I was there with people who were genuinely extroverted, outgoing, party people. And I was just playing a role…
“I’d convinced myself [Love Island] was something that made me finally belong. And I didn’t belong.”
Love Island airs on ITV2 and ITVX.
4