Niall Aslam made a shocking exit from the Love Island villa due to medical reasons. Long after exiting the show, Aslam revealed that he was suffering from Asperger’s syndrome, hence he had to bid adieu from the show.
At the time of his exit, the makers of the show claimed that Aslam left the show due to personal reasons. However, the 23 year old student/construction worker who entered the show in season 4, revealed the medical condition he was suffering from during his interviews.
Similarly to Sherif Lanre, Niall Aslam exited the villa just nine days after staying in it. During this period he was coupled with fellow islander Kendall Rae-Knight on the first day. However, Adam then took Kendall Rae-Knight from Aslam, leaving him to be single for the rest of the days. Right before leaving the show, Aslam has re-coupled with the new girl; Georgia Steel on day 6 in the house.
To everyone's shock, he left the villa suddenly on day 9, keeping Georgia Steel alone on the show.
What reason did Niall Aslam give for leaving Love Island?
In 2020, Niall posted a candid video in which he has been seen talking about his mental health on social media. In the video, Aslam revealed that he was battling stress-induced psychosis after leaving the villa.
Niall Aslam said, “I came out and talked about my Asperger's and I was diagnosed at 10 years old, that was basically the reason I left Love Island. But what actually happened to me, I ended up watching Love Island in a psychiatric hospital in London, the Nightingale Hospital to be exact. What I later found out is that I had stress-induced psychosis... Essentially what it is, you get so overwhelmed that you lose touch with reality."
“It takes quite a lot of time to come down from that, but when you come down from it you really come down, you go into a really deep depression. I was at the hospital for two weeks but in my head I wasn't fully aware of what was going on, I thought it was because of my Asperger's. You kind of hallucinate, you don't know what's going on, you're not fully aware of your surroundings, you're not safe, you need other people to look after you," Aslam added.
Was Niall Aslam depressed after leaving Love Island?
As per the ex-islander, Aslam disclosed in his candid video that he was severely depressed after leaving the show and he had to constantly be checked on. Aslam revealed, "I was on so much medication getting loads of side-effects, that's why I didn't really do any interviews as I was getting really slurred speech from the medication."
Aslam also added, "Then I had to come off the medication, I was on Xanax, really really strong stuff. I just "cold turkey-ed" it, that was horrible. It was a really upside down time for me. I think it took quite a long time for me to recover fully from it because of the Love Island situation. I was trying to get back to reality and my reality was different. I was really struggling... I was all over the place, I was depressed, I was avoiding things."
What did Niall Aslam have to say about Love Island makers?
In 2021, the now 28-year-old star blamed the makers of the show for failing to help him avoid a stress-induced psychotic episode by not making reasonable adjustments for his autism. During his interview with The Mirror, Aslam revealed that the food he had requested did not appear until four days into his stint. He also alleged that one of the crew members of the show played one song to him, “Look Down” from the musical Les Miserables, aloud from their phone. Aslam also claimed that even after requesting earlier, he wasn't given time alone to nap which helps him manage his stress levels.
Aslam told The Mirror, "I wanted to get time out but [there was] more stress, more stress, more stress, and by the seventh day I was segregating myself from the group."
He added “I couldn’t sleep and one of my coping mechanisms is talking to myself, that’s how I cope with it. I started talking to myself and they [the producers] got worried.”
What did the Love Island makers have to say about Niall Aslam's allegations?
Reacting to the allegations made by Niall Aslam, an ITV spokesperson told The Independent "We fully supported Niall during and after he left Love Island and in line with his and his family's wishes. Our medical suppliers are contracted to look after the health and well-being of our Islanders.
"Welfare and duty of care towards our contributors is always our primary concern, and we have extensive measures in place to support the islanders before, during and after their participation on the show.
"We have continued to evolve our process with each series, as the level of social media and media attention around the islanders has increased, which includes enhanced psychological support, more detailed conversations with potential Islanders regarding the impact of participation on the show, bespoke training for all Islanders on social media and a proactive aftercare package," the spokesperson concluded.
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