Love Island’s Paige Thorne has said she was “devastated” when she was forced to quit her job as a paramedic.
The stunning brunette, who placed fifth on the ITV2 reality-dating show this summer, recently confirmed her plans to return to work, but has now opened up on the tough decision to quit prior to her TV stardom.
The 24-year-old Welsh beauty from Swansea has appeared on the Girls Know Nothing podcast and she opened up about the predicament she found herself in.
READ MORE: Love Island’s Paige Thorne fires back after criticism from fellow Islanders
Torn between taking the plunge and heading onto the ITV2 show and remaining as a paramedic, Paige was confused as to take a chance on the “once in a lifetime opportunity”.
Speaking on the podcast, Paige said: “When I did tell work I needed the time off to go in [to the villa], my manager was so supportive and she 100% backed me every step of the way.
(Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
“But the only thing was, I tried all ways to keep my job and do Love Island at the same time.
“Obviously, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, apart from for Adam Collard, but he’s not doing it a third time.”
Paige then touched on how her entering the Love Island villa and keeping her paramedic job might result in a backlash on the NHS, and that her bosses felt that they couldn’t take the risk.”
She went on to explain: “I tried taking annual leave, unpaid leave, a career break, I tried every single avenue possible to keep my job as well as do Love Island.
“But, unfortunately, because paramedics and the ambulance service and the NHS in general get such bad backlash about waiting times and being understaffed and all of this, I think, from a management perspective, they were like, ‘Yes, we want to fully support you.'”
(Image: ITV)
“I said to my manager ‘It’s a massive opportunity, is there any way I can do it?’
“I think they couldn’t risk me going in not knowing me as a person, obviously higher up they don’t know me as an individual employee.”
Paige went on: “I think they were worried that I went in and then it’s like, ‘Oh, the NHS is struggling this much and paramedics are struggling this much and you’ve let one have time off to go into Love Island,’ it might’ve created more bad press and bad backlash that they just didn’t need.
(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
“Which I totally understand. So the only option I had was to resign, which I was devastated about.”
Paige recently revealed that she had been in talks with her workplace and planned to go back to her day job following on from her stint on TV.
Chatting on Lorraine, Paige told Ranvir Singh: “Personally for me, I’ve got a meeting to go back to paramedic work as well so that’ll be exciting.
“I saw an ambulance the other day with a siren and I had serious FOMO. I’m going to go back into that a little bit…”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
