Ekin-su Cülcülolu lost all of her acquaintances when she returned from the villa after winning Love Island.
The actress, 28, and her boyfriend, Davide Sanclimenti, 27, departed Love Island as one of the most beloved couples in the history of the show, having won 67.3% of the public vote. However, Ekin-su told Cosmopolitan UK that fame and admirers came at a price: her friendships.
‘I’ve lost every friend I had,’ she said. ‘I don’t have any friends. I have one friend and that’s it.
‘Unfortunately, with the fame, you see people’s true colours. People just want to be your friend because of your status, and it’s a hard industry to trust.
‘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. Unfortunately, I had that coming out of the villa, I had to delete people out of my life.
‘But I am happier this way,’ she insisted.
‘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 also recalled struggling with her mental health at the start of 2023 while competing on Dancing on Ice, where she feigned everything was fine on camera but was unravelling off-screen.
However, she emphasised that it had nothing to do with her relationship.
‘I couldn’t say anything. It was mentally draining. That was one of the tough times,’ she said.
‘It took me a while to get back out of it… 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.
