Kem Cetinay missed the opportunity for a ‘deep’ conversation with Mike Thalassitis while he was offering out haircuts in the Love Island villa.
The 2017 winner says he ‘fell into the trap’ of thinking that co-star Mike was closed off because he was over-confident after meeting him on the ITV2 summer dating show.
Speaking to The Mail On Sunday’s You magazine this weekend, 23-year-old Kem said he wished someone could have helped Mike, as he reflected on mental health one month after Mike passed away.
‘I did realise Mike wasn’t the talking kind,’ Kem said. ‘He was quite closed off. I thought of him as confident, which meant I fell into the same trap as most people.
‘What I know is you cover up your issues deep-down by pretending to be cocky and arrogant – I’ve done the same thing so many times.’
Trained barber Kem says he took the opportunity to get to know the boys in the show by barbering, saying it can be an ‘intimate thing’ that brings about ‘deep conversations’.
But Kem failed to connect with Mike, admitting that he may have made the same assumptions that many people made about the Love Island hunk.
He continued: ‘If you are young and good-looking people think you have no problems. You do. Everyone kept saying they were shocked about Mike because he was so good-looking. Why? Mental health issues can happen to anyone.’
Two years after their time on the show, Love Island star Mike took his own life aged 26 on 16 March, with his body found in a North London park.
He was laid to rest on 5 April, with his family and close friends pictured arriving at Christ Church, in Southgate, to pay their respects.
Calling the events of the last month ‘incredibly sad,’ Kem said Mike’s death had not yet sunk in.
Having experienced his own battle with mental health, Kem expressed an interest in helping Love Island bosses identify the issues that future contestants may come up against.
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