Chris Hughes has opened up about struggling with his mental health in the wake of his “difficult” split with former Little Mix singer Jesy Nelson.
The Love Island star first started dating Jesy in January 2019 but they split just over a year later, in April 2019, as lockdown kept them apart.
Now, after revealing that he’s still “good friends” with his ex, Chris has admitted that their break-up took a toll on him.
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He said, “It was a tough period in a lot of people’s personal lives and it was for me too, as break-ups are never easy. It was difficult. Sometimes you just grow apart. There have definitely been days when I wake up and things haven’t felt great.’
“The period 12 months ago was really tough. There were days where I was waking up and our split was the first thing I was thinking about. I was thinking, ‘I hope I feel good today. I hope mentally I feel all right’. I had to try my hardest mentally to break the cycle.”
Chris added to The Sun, “Life was a sh*tstorm.”
CHECK OUT Chris Hughes and Jesy Nelson's relationship from the start
Chris Hughes and Jesy Nelson's relationship timeline slider
1 of 15January 2019
In January 2019, Jesy was papped giving Love Island 2017 star Chris Hughes a cheeky little snog... In a KEBAB shop! From that moment, rumours that the pair were dating were rife.
2 of 15March 2019
After weeks of rumours that Jesy and Chris were dating, the pair confirmed their romance during a trip to Ireland, posting this cosy snap to their socials.Although the pair briefly split after just three weeks of dating, they quickly rekindled their romance.
3 of 15March 2019
Since that moment, Jesy and Chris haven't been shy in expressing their love for each other, with Chris calling Jesy his 'girlfriend' during a radio interview in March 2019. Chris gushed over his new love, saying, "I'm the happiest I've ever been. It's official, she's my girlfriend. I'm so happy, she's the nicest girl I've ever met, this is no exaggeration, she's got a heart like she was your mother or something. She's so caring. We just get on like best mates, and that's the beauty about it."
4 of 15April 2019
Showing he's the best supportive boyfriend, Chris started to join Jesy at some of her Little Mix interviews, as well as posting cute snaps on social media.
5 of 15May 2019
With their relationship going well, Jesy and Chris enjoyed their first Summer together, with the pair going on romantic bike rides and enjoying each other's company.
6 of 15June 2019
In June, Chris and Jesy went on their first overseas holiday, with Chris writing on Instagram, 'Off on holiday, with my best friend ud83dudda4✈ufe0f Miss JH'.
7 of 15June 2019
Later in the month, Chris showed his love to Jesy by paying tribute to her on her birthday. Sharing a cute photo on social media, Chris wrote, 'Happy birthday to a best friend, my better half and the most caring person I could have wished to meet,' he wrote, along with a gallery of four photos of them together. 'Every day is better now. The fact I love you when I'm hungry says it all. The core to my ud83cudf4f... have the best day and keep on shining, you deserve the world ud83cudf0dud83dudda4 x' [sic]
8 of 15August 2019
After nine months of dating, Jesy sparked engagement rumours by calling Chris her 'future husband'. Sharing a video of Chris playing up to the camera, Jesy captioned the video, 'My future husband'.
9 of 15August 2019
Later that month, Jesy and Chris enjoyed their second holiday together, this time taking a trip to Bali! The pair delighted fans with loved-up posts throughout the trip, with many calling them 'goals'.
10 of 15September 2019
When Jesy's BBC documentary 'Odd One Out' aired, fans of the singer were left with melted hearts after seeing how sweet Chris is towards his girlfriend. Chris revealed on the show that he has a make-up free photo of Jesy on his fridge, which he often goes to look at without her knowing.
11 of 15October 2019
Chris attended the Pride of Britain awards in October, where he gushed about his girl. When we asked what his proudest moment of the year was, he sweetly replied that it was when he asked Jesy to be his girlfriend! Aww! "That was a nice moment. She's just wonderful, we're best friends - we spend so much time together."
12 of 15October 2019
Chris later joined Jesy and the rest of the Little Mix girls on their UK tour, where he even stepped in for Jade when she was sick during rehearsals!
13 of 15November 2019
Chris broke down in tears during an interview on This Morning, whilst discussing the shocking online abuse Jesy has received in the past. He said, "She rang me, bless her, about 10 minutes after the documentary aired and she was just so overwhelmed and she just broke down on the phone to me. She's a strong girl now, she's extremely strong."Visibly upset, Chris then added, "I don't know why, but I get so emotional when I'm speaking about it."
14 of 152019: Chris Hughes
On 17th January 2020, Jesy and Chris celebrated their one-year anniversary! The pair shared a number of cute photos with each other, with Chris calling Jesy his 'Queen'.
15 of 15April 2020
In April 2020 the pair split. The following month, Jesy deleted all traces of Chris from her Instagram account.
Despite their difficult split, Chris has no regrets about his relationship with Jesy.
He explained, “I look back and I don’t look at anything with regret. We still support each other and it was just a period in life where you move on.
“But it’s nice to look back on the good memories of my relationships with Jesy and there were plenty of good times. There’s no reason to not like each other.”
WATCH 'I'm a Little Mixer' 💞 Chris and Kem play 'Who's Most Likely To?'
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Chris’ latest candid admission comes after he revealed it’s been “hard” to get back in the dating game after splitting from Jesy.
“I’m very single at the moment, I’m not talking to anybody. I would love to say I was dating and very happy in love but I’m happy, I’m just not in love," he told Metro.co.uk.
Chris continued, “I haven’t got anything really exciting to report. It’s very hard at the moment, it’s hard to actually go and date.
"I like to go and meet people in person, I think you can gauge a very different personality in person than when you do over the internet or by phone or text. But hopefully one day we can go freely and safely meet people and date them.”