Love Island’s Shaughna On How She Treated Her Body Makes ‘Her Heart Sink’

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Shaughna Phillips (@shaughnaphillips)

Shaughna Phillips rose to fame on the 2020 season of Love Island, where her iconic ‘Congrats, Hun’, had us all screaming at the tv. But since her stint on the show, Shaughna has opened up about how she treated her body at the time now makes her ‘heart sink’.

Shaughna shared that in the past two years she has worked on the relationship she has with her body, revealing that it wasn’t easy after being introduced to the world in a bikini.

Speaking to Cosmo UK about the extreme lengths she went through to transform herself before appearing on the show, she shared: “It actually makes my heart sink thinking about how I treated my body before Love Island.

“This was over Christmas, as I was on the winter series, at a time when people typically treat and indulge themselves. But I was being so strict with my diet.”

Shaughna went on to say that her own insecurities worsened after appearing on Love Island.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Shaughna Phillips (@shaughnaphillips)

“My experience on Love Island – although amazing – was marred so much by my own thoughts about my body. I was convinced that I was the token fat girl in there, so during everything and anything I did my body was at the forefront of my mind.

“It’s only now that I watch clips back I realise I looked absolutely fine, there was nothing wrong with me. That just goes to show there was and is nothing wrong with my body, it’s the way I view my body that’s the problem.”

She continued, “I separate exercise and working out with my body image. I do it more so because it’s an outlet for my mental health. It makes me feel better.

“I don’t want people to think that by dropping weight, you gain confidence because they’re two different things. I’ve felt my most unconfident and my most unhappy when I was skinnier than I’ve ever been.”

Recalling how she felt at the time, Shaughna explained: “All I could think about was being skinny, and I thought that as soon as I am skinny, I’ll be happy. But it took for me to get to that point to realise ‘oh my god, no, that is not what happiness is’.

“You need to separate your happiness and your body image.”

• love island
• Shaughna Phillips