Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu has opened up about how she had “no friends” at school and used to eat her lunch in the toilet on her own.
The Love Island winner, 28, opened up about her experience of being bullied while at school, during an appearance on RTÉ One’s The Late Late Show with Ryan Tubridy.
Host Ryan asked the model and actress, who won the latest series of Love Island alongside Davide Sanclimenti, about her experience of bullying. He said: “People can get quite serious about Love Island and talk about misogyny and bullying.
READ MORE: Love Island’s Ekin-Su sure she’s seen UFO in sky after ‘flashing mad colours’
“Do you listen to that and take that seriously and say there is that element of it and I’d like to address it or do you say you’re reading too much into what was a bit of fun?”
(Image: RTE One)
Ekin-Su responded that there will “always be bullying in life”, adding: “People just projecting themselves onto you. The best thing you can do is just be confident, give it a smile and just know who you are be authentic. Don’t be bothered about these bullies, you know.”
Recalling her own experiences when she was younger, Ekin-Su continued: “At school, I had a hard time, I was bullied. I was quite overweight, I had no friends. I used to eat my lunch in the toilet on my own. I’d lock myself away.
“I just felt like: ‘You know what, it doesn’t matter if I’ve got no friends, I’m going to do what I love doing and just studied’. Naturally, you just made friends who were accepting you for you.”
(Image: Jonathan Hordle/REX/Shutterstock)
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The actress shared some advice that her mother had given her, saying “Be yourself, people aren’t going to like you but they might really like you.
“Be with people who like you, you don’t need everyone to love you. You’ve got your own army behind your back.”
Viewers watching the show praised Ekin-Su on social media, with one saying: “She came across so well really good interview and she was so right in what she was saying.”
A different account wrote: “She is so inspirational and so genuine” with a heart emoji.
Another said: “An absolutely beautiful soul .What an amazing human being. You so deserve everything life has to offer you.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
