Love IslandbombshellPriya Gopaldashad a short – but sweet – time in the villa when she appeared on the ITV dating show last year.
The London-based beauty, 24, previously gained praise when shedonated her fee from appearing on the show to the NHSand since then she’s headed straight back into studying medicine.
Though, it hasn’t all been plain sailing for Priya who waspreviously the target of racist trollswhen she appeared in the villa.
Speaking to OK!, Priya explained that nothing could have prepared her for the hate she received online when she left the villa.
“I didn't think it was going to be hard to deal with. I thought I'll be fine, I just won't take notice of it.”
When Priya left the villa, Instagram was on the main ways trolls found to hit out at her and she admits that if it wasn’t for supportive people around her, it would have been even harder to deal with.
She said: “The main way that I deal with it is just talking to friends and family by showing them what people have sent to me, and that they're really supportive. It's always good to have friends and family to lean on and when the trolling gets too much.”
One of those who was part of her support system was her good friend – who has now become her boyfriend.
The star explained: “My boyfriend I actually knew before I went into the villa and he knew me. We were friends before I went into the villa and once I got out he was just super supportive, so it's all worked out well.”
The ultra marathon runner also has a very active lifestyle and explained the impact it had on her mental health: “I do a lot of running and I think it's something that more people should do because it's helped me with my mental health massively.”
Last year Priya spoke to OK! aboutdiversity within reality TV showsand now admitted that watching this year’s Love Island left her feeling “disappointed”.
“I was a bit disappointed with this year's cast. South Asian people make up such a big percentage of the UK population and the fact that they hadn't got that representation on the show is quite upsetting actually.
“Love Island is diverse. However, I don't believe that it's representative of the UK population.”
She explained that when she was on the show, it was “refreshing” for her friends and family to see her there but added: “I do definitely know that South Asian people do apply for the show and so it is a shame that they haven't been picked.”
Priya is about to enter her final year of medicine and is hoping to become a doctor “by February”, and she explains that while entering the villa was a big step outside her comfort zone, she wants to use her platform for good.
“I've been working with the government and the NHS on health campaigns and campaigns against trolling. They're just passing a bill which has to do with trolling, and so I've been working on that.
“I really want to use my platform to encourage people to be healthy and promote health.”
She explained that she didn’t go into the villa to “earn money as an influencer” and that “helping people is what I really want to do and have always wanted to do and so, medicine has to come first”.
When she was in the villa, Priya stunned the girls when she revealed that her celebrity crush was Boris Johnson and she explained: “The Boris Johnson thing was a total joke which got taken out of hand. I can tell you that my type is blonde and the only bond that I could think of was Boris Johnson. His blonde hair is great”.
Priya has teamed up with no.1 meat free brand Quorn to run the Royal Parks Half Marathon on Sunday 9th October. Quorn is the ‘Official Sustainable Protein Partner’ this year and want to help the event further its sustainable ambitions by supporting nutrition on race day at the Plant-Based Food Village, as Presenting Partner.
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