Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu has opened up to Cosmopolitan UK about having "no friends" following her time on Love Island, while also sharing details about her relationship and secret talent. We'll be your friend, Ekin!
The star, who won the show in 2022 alongside boyfriend Davide Sanclimenti, opened up during the 'Up Close' franchise, saying people showed their true colours when she became a household name, and she now has to keep her inner circle small.
"I’ve lost every friend I had," she told us. "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."
Ekin continued, "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. 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."
The star also touched on how she protects her wellbeing when she's going through tough times. "There have been things in my life that I can’t mention now that have affected my mental health for a while," the 28-year-old continued.
"I had to keep smiling and pretend everything was fine. This was during Dancing On Ice when there were things in the background – not relationship related, by the way – [they were] work related that was very hard. I couldn’t say anything.
"It was mentally draining. That was one of the tough times. 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."
Kudos to Ekin-Su for being so open with her fans, we have no doubt it will help people in similar situations.
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