Being an influencer after Love Island made me ‘anxious and depressed’ says Wes Nelson

Season three Love Island star Wes Nelson has revealed his influencer life left him feeling “depressed and anxious” after starring on the reality TV show. The 24-year-old admitted the influencer industry was “very fake” and he even returned money he was given and turned down huge brand deals.

In the new Channel 4 documentary, Life After Love Island, Wes Nelson spoke with Will Njobvu about how his newfound fame after Love Island affected him. After starring on the show, many Islanders are thrusted into the limelight with multiple opportunities from lucrative brand deals to an army of millions of fans. Wes was on Love Island in 2018 and left the villa with Megan Barton-Hanson, but has since stepped out of the influencing world and become a musician.

Speaking to Will, Wes said that dealing with brand deals and becoming an influencer was “making me quite depressed”. He said: “It was actually make me quite depressed, like, real depressed. Really anxious all the time, the whole thing is very, very fake. I don’t want to be a part of that, I want to do something different, something that makes me happy.”

After rising to fame following his stint on Love Island, Wes didn’t follow the same social media path and career his co-stars took. He told Will he is “terrible” at social media. “I really don’t like stuff like that,” he said. Wes admitted he did try and had brand deals after the villa. In 2018, both him and fellow Islander Josh Denzel signed a huge fashion deal to become the new faces of boohooMAN.

Wes said: “You look at it and think ‘that’s a lot of money’. But I ended up miles behind on posts because I wasn’t posting on time. So then I was getting offered more and I ended up giving all the money back and said ‘I’m not doing it anymore’. So I just focused on music and property and did what I actually wanted to do.”

Wes went on to star on Celebrity X Factor alongside Zara McDermott, Eyal Booker and Samira Mighty, which catapulted his music career. The former Islander is now a successful musician and has collaborated with the likes of Hardy Caprio, Yxng Bane and French Montana. He is currently a special guest on the N-Dubz tour.

It was reported that Wes became a millionaire at 21 years old from his charting songs, TV show appearances and his job as a nuclear systems design engineer before Love Island. However, Wes said he would’ve become a millionaire regardless of Love Island. He said: “I don’t want to talk about balance, I don’t want to make my identity about how much money I make. You can bet your bottom dollar that I would’ve been in this position one way or the other. Has it [Love Island] helped me, has it boosted me? Of course.”

Life After Love Island is available to watch now on All 4. For all the latest reality TV news and gossip, like The Holy Church of Love Island on Facebook. 

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Ranked: The Love Islanders who are charging the most on OnlyFans

• Before and after: Laura Anderson’s pretty dramatic transformation over the years

• A rundown of all the Love Islanders who have had hair transplants