A Love Island star has said she’s never been happier after she left the reality show’s famous villa and returned to her job in accounting.
Ellie Jackson, from Cardiff, appeared on the 2024 series of Love Island after entering via Casa Amor.
Following her nine-day stint in the Majorcan villa, Ms Jackson was convinced she could follow in the influencer footsteps of the likes of Molly-Mae by capitalising on her new-found fame.
‘This is a perfect opportunity going and having a bit of fun on telly, having a flirt with a few boys and get my way into like a different lifestyle.
‘But I don’t think I realised it is just only like a select few that actually make it,’ Ms Jackson said.
Now, Ms Jackson has described the huge pressure she felt to build her own brand as an influencer.
The 24-year-old says she struggled to stay self-employed due to the lack of a steady income from the few brand deals she managed to secure.
And after a year working full time as an influencer, the 24-year-old has now returned to her 9 to 5 job in accounting.
After appearing on the 2024 series of Love Island, Ellie Jackson is now back working in her old job in accounting
Following her nine day stint in the Majorcan villa, Ms Jackson was convinced she could follow in the footsteps of the likes of Molly-Mae by capitalising on her new found fame
‘They were really, really fun but I found myself entering kind of like a toxic state, my success measure just being completely off, and I was measuring success with the amount of followers that I had, with the amount of brand deals that I had,’ Ms Jackson told the BBC.
Her attempt to break into the influencer market also impacted her mental health due to the constant negative comments on social media and the ‘toxic’ environment within the industry.
Ms Jackson added that she ‘completely forgot’ how successful her life has been in other ways.
She said: ‘I just forgot about that part of my life where I’d got an English degree, I got into a really big accountancy firm,’ she said.
‘I’d forgotten about that and just solely just made my life dependent on my followers and my social media, which was wrong.’
After accepting her old job back, she is now on a full-time salary with her social media work serving as a ‘bonus’.
During her time on Love Island, Ms Jackson ruffled feathers on the hit reality show.
Viewers branded her a ‘snake’ for bringing up her history with Ciaran Davies after he stayed loyal to Nicole Samuel.
Ms Jackson has described the huge pressure she felt to build her own brand as an influencer
The 24-year-old says she struggled to stay self-employed as an influencer due to the lack of a steady income from the few brand deals she managed to secure
During her time on Love Island, Ms Jackson ruffled feathers on the hit reality show after she brought up her history with Ciaran Davies after he stayed loyal to Nicole Samuel
Ms Jackson said that she and Mr Davies had been messaging for ‘months’ and that he had approached her on a night out, adding that she ‘knew he would downplay’ their history.
Ms Samuel was left spiralling by the conversation, which lead a furious Mr Davies to rush to speak to Ms Jackson and clear things up.
Her comments enraged fans, who slammed her for trying to ‘stir the pot’. But equally, they felt Ms Samuel was overreacting out of ‘insecurity’.
Just a few days later, Ms Jackson was dumped from the show after she failed to couple up.
