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A NEW SIX-PACK ENTERS THE VILLA...

‘Love Island’ Star Reveals Jaw-Dropping Body Transformation

The controversial ex-rugby player says he hit 227 pounds after leaving the villa.

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

PublishedApr 28, 2026, 2:41 PM EDT

UpdatedApr 28, 2026, 5:29 PM EDT

Updated Apr 28, 2026, 5:29 PM EDTPublished Apr 28, 2026, 2:41 PM EDT

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A Love Island competitor who gained weight after his appearance on the show revealed his incredible fitness transformation on Monday.

“The post I never thought I’d make,” Jacques O’Neill, 26, began the caption of his Instagram post.

Accompanied by photos of his physical and emotional journey, O’Neill revealed that he struggled emotionally and gained weight after his time on season eight of Love Island U.K., which aired in 2022.

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O’Neill, who was a professional rugby player at the time, exited the villa early, leaving on day 37 after a heated argument with fellow islander Adam Collard. He cited mental health as a contributing factor in his departure.

A controversial figure for many fans, O’Neill wrote that he returned home to public hate and disturbing messages, entering what he now refers to as “the worst years” of his life.

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“I came off that show completely lost. Didn’t even know who I was anymore,” he wrote, adding, “I genuinely felt like the most hated man in the U.K.”

To cope, he turned to alcohol and food, which allowed him to numb his emotions. “I was drinking the whole time. Because when I drank...I didn’t feel any of it,” he wrote over two photos. In one, O’Neill holds a beer can; in the other, he appears to be drinking an alcoholic beverage.

He continued, “I didn’t feel any of it. I could block it all out. Avoid the real world. So I kept doing it.”

“I drank because when I drank, none of it touched me. I partied and laughed it off. I ate alone with my hood up so nobody could judge me,” he wrote.

“I told myself I was fine. I wasn’t,” O’Neill added.

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He later realized he turned to alcohol and food as a form of escapism, writing, “I was addicted to the feeling it gave me.”

His weight eventually reached 227 pounds—“the biggest I’d ever been,” he noted.

O’Neill became unrecognizable to his loved ones and, overwhelmed by embarrassment, began to avoid them and refused work opportunities.

“I genuinely thought I was done. There was no way back for me,” he wrote.

Then, a change was sparked when he asked himself, “Is this really how I want to live?” marking a fundamental shift in his story.

He decided to get his life back on track, setting a timeframe of eight weeks to accomplish the goal.

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“I’m not going to lie. The first week was tough,” he wrote.

“Everything in me wanted to go back to what I had been doing. The drinking. The food. The numbing out.”

After the first seven days, this commitment led to a shift in him.

“The decisions started getting easier, the training started feeling like mine again,” he wrote. “I started waking up wanting to get out of bed.”

In the photos, he showed that he was back to his visible, rock-hard Love Island abs and wrote that he felt like himself again.

Now, he works as a coach, helping other people reach their fitness goals.

“Now I’m obsessed with becoming the best version of me,” O’Neill wrote, “and helping others do the same.”

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Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

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