Love Island’s Molly-Mae Hague has opened up about her relationship with food and exercise before and while being on the show, saying she was ‘extremely underweight’ and is much healthier six months post-leaving the show.
"I was a stone and a half lighter a year ago but that’s because I was at the gym twice a day, and was obsessed with my diet," Hague told OK! Magazine.
"All I was eating was couscous and rice. It was probably unhealthy, and I was extremely underweight for my height."
"I was a size four," she continued. "I might not be as confident in my body as I was before, but I am healthier."
Opening up about the impact of trolling and comments on her weight gain, she said she often feels insecure.
NOW WATCH: Marriage and kids, one day!” Molly-Mae gushes about moving in with Tommy ❤️
"I was reading through comments on a bikini photo of me and they were so mean," she said. "Someone commented that they have a better body and they have six kids. I got so upset."
However, the positive comments she does receive validates her, she says. "There has been a lot of love on the pictures though, which makes me feel like it’s alright to be this size. I’m strong so I can take the nasty comments."
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"I’m glad it’s happening to me over other people," she continued. "If I get upset, then Tommy says, "If I think you look amazing then why do you care about them?"'
CHECK OUT: Which Love Island couples are still together?
All the Love Island couples - slider
1 of 25Hannah Elizabeth and Jonathan Clark (2015): SPLIT
Remember when they, like, got engaged on the show? That one didn't quite last...
2 of 25Luis Morrison and Cally Jane Beech (2015): SPLIT
They had the first ever Love Island baby but in September 2018 they confirmed they'd split.
3 of 25Jordan Ring and Zoe Brown (2015): SPLIT
Absolutely DID NOT work IRL. Neeext.
4 of 25Jessica Hayes and Max Morley (2015): SPLIT
Still fancy Max in a huge way, not gonna lie.
5 of 25Katie Salmon and Adam Maxwell (2016): SPLIT
Adam claimed he was '100 percent single' shortly after leaving the villa and, um, that was that. #Kadam; gone but never forgotten.
6 of 25Rykard Jenkins and Rachel Fenton (2016): SPLIT
At least they lasted 18 months. Not bad going...
7 of 25Scott Thomas and Kady McDermott (2016): SPLIT
Scott and Kady managed a year before splitting in 2017.
8 of 25Nathan Massey and Cara de da Hoyde (2016): STILL TOGETHER
They've got their little Love Island baby and everything.
9 of 25Malin Andersson and Terry Walsh (2016): SPLIT
He did date fellow Love Island-er Emma-Jane Woodhams eight months in actual real life before calling it a day. AH WELL.
10 of 25Gabby Allen and Marcel Somerville (2017): SPLIT
Gabby dumped Marcel after he was spotted cheating as they holidayed TOGETHER. Blimey.
11 of 25Jamie Jewitt and Camilla Thurlow (2017): STILL TOGETHER
An absolute success story of Love Island 2017, Jamie and Camilla and Jamie are still the CUTEST of couples.
12 of 25Sam Gowland and Georgia Harrison (2017): SPLIT
Sam seems to be doing alright for himself on Geordie Shore, so we don't think he's too gutted.
13 of 25Olivia Attwood and Chris Hughes (2017): SPLIT
The couple were plagued with cheating rumours throughout their relationship (who can forget that whole Chris Hughes and Katie Price debacle?). Since their ITVBe show Crackin' On ended, Olivia's confirmed she's back with ex-boyfriend Bradley Dack.
14 of 25Alex Bowen and Olivia Buckland (2016): STILL TOGETHER
Alex and Olivia are married and literally as strong as ever. We like to live vicariously through them, to be honest.
15 of 25Tyla Carr and Jonny Mitchell (2017): SPLIT
Oh it was never gonna last, was it?
16 of 25Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies (2017): SPLIT
TheLove Island2017 winners split in December 2017; five months after the finale.
17 of 25Montana Brown and Alex Beattie (2017): SPLIT
These two split just weeks after returning to the UK. Sad times.
18 of 25Dom Lever and Jess Shears (2017): STILL TOGETHER
Jess and Dom are SO together, in fact, they got 'married' on Good Morning Britain on Valentine's Day 2017. They then got, y'know, properly married.
19 of 25Sam Bird and Georgia Steel: SPLIT
You know how this one went. Sam accused Georgia of cheating on him with her ex, which she denied. It's safe to say they didn't split on the best of terms.
20 of 25Zara McDermott and Adam Collard: SPLIT
Zara and Adam called it quits at the beginning of 2019. WAH.
21 of 25Megan Barton-Hanson and Wes Nelson: SPLIT
Megan and Wesdidmove in together, but announced their split in January 2019 following rumours Wes was getting close toDancing on Icepartner Vanessa Bauer. Uh oh.
22 of 25Josh Denzel and Kaz Crossley: SPLIT
Josh and Kaz announced their split in February 2019, with Kaz saying: "Sometimes things don't go the way you planned, but you have to be grateful for the journey. Thank you for everything especially showing me how to love myself again."
23 of 25Samira Mighty and Frankie Foster: SPLIT
Frankie reportedly cheated on Samira and that was that. Done. Over. thank u, next.
24 of 25Laura Anderson and Paul Knops: SPLIT
There's no bad blood betweenLaura and Paul, but they split months after making it to the final of the show.
25 of 25Jack Fincham and Dani Dyer: SPLIT
Dani released a statement via Instagram Stories (how very 2018) announcing thewinning 2018 couple had SPLIT, before they got back together just days later. Hmm.However fast forward to April 2019 and Jack announced they'd split.
Her comments add to a growing concern about how Love Island contestants prepare for the show, with many other women speaking about crash dieting or under-eating before heading into the villa.
Last year, 2018 contestant Savanna Darnell said she didn’t eat carbs for two weeks before she was due to go on the show and resorted to binge-eating when her time as a contestant was delayed.
"Thinking back to this time I’m thinking “omg what did I put myself through?” she said in a YouTube video about her experience.
With Winter Love Island coming up next month, it’s a reminder that appearing on a show all about ‘sexy singles’ is not all it’s cracked up to be.