Former Love Island icon Georgia Townend – who was the unsung hero of last year's series – has shared a powerful message about body confidence ahead of tonight's premiere of Love Island 2022.
Speaking to her 151k Instagram followers, the ex-bombshell opened up about learning to love her body after being introduced to the world in a swimming costume – something which swathes of former Islanders have also opened up about since leaving the show.
"Nearly one whole year since this," she wrote in her post on Instagram, alongside her Love Island promo photo. "The reason I’m posting this is because I’m currently sat in an airport, knowing I’ll be in a bikini shortly and how that always fills me with dread."
Georgia continued: "And this day wasn’t any different. I remember seeing my promo pic for the first time on my villa phone and thinking 'Oh my god I look so fat and ugly, no-one will pick me', I was so embarrassed that this was what people were going to see of me for the first time."
Speaking about her state of mind at the time of the photoshoot, the former Islander added, "They wanted me to wear a bikini, and I begged them to let me wear my own cossie because I wanted as little of me on show as possible, because the less that people saw the less I would get criticised.
"As I stood and posed, the echolalia in my head was going like the clappers 'breathe in… make sure your thighs aren’t touching… don’t have your arms down by your side it will make you look bigger… stand up straight'."
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Sadly though, Georgia admitted that the thoughts running through her head at the time weren't just triggered by being on the show. "It stemmed much earlier than that, I can’t actually remember a time I liked my body, how sad is that. Didn’t matter what size I was, I always picked fault," she added. "I’ve put on weight since those pictures were taken and now wish I looked like that, but at the time I thought I was fat. Make that make sense."
A year on from her time in the villa, the Islander revealed she's been working on transforming her relationship with her body – something which she hopes to encourage others to do by being so honest. "There isn’t really a point to this," she said of her Instagram post, "[I] just wanted a reminder for myself that while I was busy hating the way I looked, I now look back and wish I’d made the most of it."
Georgia went on, "Don’t spend your life waiting for your body to look 'perfect' all the while missing out on buying the dress you love because it’s not the size you want on the label, or skipping the holiday because you don’t want to stand next to your skinny friends."
"You’ll look back and think those were my best years and instead of enjoying them, I missed out on making memories, sheltering myself away. I’m not getting another body, neither are you. So you may as well love what you have."
Well said, Georgia!
If you’re worried about your own or someone else’s health, you can contact Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity, 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677 or beateatingdisorders.org.uk.
