Love Island’s Cynthia and Layla reveal what the mental health support was like during Casa Amor

Love Island has blessed us with some incredible binge-worthy moments and memes over the years, and this year's trip to Casa Amor was no different. As is custom, when half of the cast leave the main Villa for a visit to Casa Amor, we're introduced to a whole host of new faces. Amongst this year's hopeful singletons were Cynthia Otseh-Taiwo and Layla Al-Momani, who both found themselves in the centre of love triangles - what the Islanders like to call “tests".

Often, the girls come in to Casa Amor and put in the graft, and it's usually happily reciprocated. This time saw a lot of trysts, but few follow throughs. While it can be a brief appearance, it’s still quite tough-going, whether that’s rejection televised to the masses or the frustrations of having little opportunity to have viewers to really connect to them, or explain their part in the Casa interactions.

To recap this particular season's drama: everyone was rooting for Will and Jessie to stay loyal to one another, but as fans witnessed, Will kiss Layla, and things became messy when the farmer then decided to stick with his original partner.

Casey O'Gorman, who was (and still is) coupled with Claudia Fogarty, also had his “testing moment” during Casa Amor. After many kisses and straddling on the terrace with Cynthia, things were left sour when he too decided to stick with his OG match.

So, although the girls' time was cut short in the villa due to their respective boys going back to Jessie and Claudia, Cynthia, 25, and Layla, 28, have since spilled all of the tea from their experience to Cosmopolitan UK – and also opened up about one of the most important topics when it comes to appearing on the dating show; how well the contestants are supported before, during and after entering an environment where feelings and emotions run so high.

Luckily, when asked what the mental health support was like during their recent Casa Amor experience, both agreed it was “brilliant”.

“I think they do really really care about your mental health, 100%,” Cynthia began. “I think the duty of care, especially prior to going in, is really good and even after, I think the duty of care has been amazing. I don't have any complaints.”

Agreeing with Cynthia, Layla added that the producers put in a lot of effort to talk with contestants before they even touch down in South Africa. “They really talk to you a lot before. You don’t just get to go in. There’s a lot of conversation before you’re even offered a place on the show, which is great because they’re not accepting somebody that might necessarily struggle more than others.”

Layla also admitted that since being dumped from the island, she has received a lot of negative comments from viewers, even including accusations that she was ‘high’ while on Aftersun – something she quickly cleared up as false. “I've had conversations with the welfare team who have been really great and supportive. I don’t know if you could tell but on Aftersun I was actually crying before, my eyes were so red,” she said. “Everyone was like, 'are you high?' – like, no. No don’t come for me for this, I actually was crying.”

She also added, “I was sat with one of the members of the welfare team before [Aftersun] and she came and chatted to me after. They’re there for you which is great and important. They know, this is season 9, so they’re learning and doing the best that they can for us.”

Following the heartbreaking suicides of two former Love Island contestants – 26-year-old Mike Thalassitis in March 2019, and 32-year-old Sophie Gradon in June 2018 – the show was hit with severe criticism about the way it handles aftercare for the mental wellbeing of contestants. This led to a huge shake up in series seven, where producers implemented a new mental health duty of care process, including robust psychological support, financial management and proactive aftercare packages.

Cynthia said they also received social media training, a welfare check, along with “a lot of paperwork and debriefing, then they pop you on a flight back home and they continue to check up on you throughout that process as well”.

It’s reassuring to hear that the contestants are receiving the support they deserve.

Chloe Bowen

Chloe Bowen is Cosmopolitan UK’s former Features Intern. She holds undergraduate and masters degrees in journalism, and ever since joining the Cosmo team, Chloe writes about everything from sex and dating to mental health, culture, body image and books. In her spare time, she’s likely to be cooking up tasty vegan food, in a yoga class, binge-watching crime documentaries or going on long walks with an over-priced oat milk flat white.