Some bombshells disappear into the Love Island ether after their five minutes have past never to be talked of again, others go down in the history books, and Love Island 2022's Jacques O'Neill is certainly one for the books.
Coming in to the villa on day three as a bombshell and the ex of that summer's It Girl, Gemma Owen - rugby player Jacques hit headlines fast. Leaving his ex to cop on with his villa bestie, Luca Bish, Jacques cracked on with OG Paige Thorne and the two grew close fast.
After a few weeks in the villa, things between him and Paige came to an end when Jacques made the honourable decision to leave the villa for his own mental health.
He might've been one of the biggest characters to come out of the series 8 villa, but what happened to Jacques when he returned to the UK?
Well, from the looks of his socials he mostly spends a lot of quality time with his mum, goes to sporting events, works out and looks downright exceptional in photos. But there's slightly more to his post-Love Island journey than that...
What is Love Island's Jacques O'Neill up to now?
Rather than return to the rugby pitch, it looks like Jacques is spending most of his time post-villa focusing on being a social media influencer and, honestly, fair play to him.
How old is Jacques O'Neill?
Jacques is 25 years old. He was born 8 May 1999.
What does Jacques O'Neill's job?
Before appearing on Love Island, Jacques was a professional rugby league player. He most recently played as a hooker or loose forward for the Castleford Tigers in the Betfred Super League. These days he appears to be living that influencer life.
Where is Jacques O'Neill from?
Lots of Islanders seemed to struggle with this one upon Jacques' arrival, so allow us to clarify; Jacques is from Cumbria, so grew up close to the Peak District. Last time we checked in on him, he was living in Leeds.
Has Jacques O'Neill appeared on any other reality shows?
In addition to taking part in Love Island 2022, Jacques took part in Get Britain Singing in 2023 (in aid of the mental health campaign Britain Get Talking), alongside fellow Islanders Zachariah Noble, Molly Marsh, Davide Sanclimenti and Marcel Somerville.
What happened to Jacques O'Neill in the Love Island villa?
Love Island producers dropped bombshell Jacques O'Neill on the villa on day seven.
Despite being Gemma Owen's ex, he formed a strong connection with Paige Thorne. While the relationship survived Casa Amor – despite a small bump in the form of Cheyanne Kerr and Molly Salmon – Jacques decided to exit the villa on day 37.
Who is Jacques O'Neill dating?
Shortly after learning that former flame Paige and villa boyf rival Adam Collard had split in October 2022 after a steamy summer romance, we learned that Jacques was officially loved up elsewhere – or it certainly looked that way.
If the reports at the time were true, it's safe to say that our Jacques definitely has a type, because frankly, we thought his new flame was, well, Paige AGAIN. She's wasn't, to clarify.
According to The Sun, Jacques dated Norwegian influencer, Isabel Raad (utter bombshell vibes, btw), who was allegedly staying with him in Manchester (before he moved to Leeds). Fans spotted the pair at an event together and according to an insider, the new couple had "real potential".
The source told the publication, "Isabel is really famous in Norway and has a huge following. She’s really hit it off with Jacques and is enjoying spending time with him in the UK."
They added, "Isabel is here a lot and friends think things could be serious."
We've not heard much about that relationship since, so we're thinking fling or false alarm.
Since parting ways with Paige, rumours of the pair rekindling have popped up every now and again, but Paige has shut these down time and time again, stressing that the two are just friends. And still are from the looks of things...
The series eight Islander is reportedly dating influencer Ellie O’Donnell with a source saying that they're a "really good match".
Why did Jacques O'Neill leave the Love Island 2022 villa?
Bombshell Jaques O'Neill famously decided to leave the Love Island 2022 villa before being dumped (or who knows, even winning), and it's safe to say that life has changed dramatically for this Islander since he first made his entrance on Day 7.
heat first learned of Jacques' departure from the show when ITV's press team released the following statement, "Jacques has made the decision to leave the Villa. He will explain his reasons to the Islanders during tonight’s episode. We fully support his decision and look forward to seeing what’s next for Jacques."
By his own admission, Jacques' first two weeks in the villa were "probably the happiest I’ve been in a very long time", but things took an uncomfortable turn in his final fortnight, with the pressures of the show clearly affecting his mental wellbeing, eventually leading to his departure (despite producers allegedly begging him to stay).
After a period of understandable silence, Jacques took to his personal Instagram over the weekend to articulate his thoughts and feelings regarding his Love Island journey, candidly describing his time on the show as the "worst I've ever felt in my life".
He wrote, "Where do I start.. What a rollercoaster of emotions that was from start to finish! Since leaving the villa I’ve had time to reflect on my time being in there and if I’m going to be completely honest I wasn’t mentally prepared for how it was going to be at all - underestimated it massively!
"The first 2 weeks of my experience was probably the happiest I’ve been in a very long time. On the other hand the last 2 weeks was definitely the worst I’ve ever felt in my life. I was finding myself feeling worse and worse every day and if I didn’t leave when I did I was scared I would never have got back to my normal self!
"I’ve watched back the episodes that I got the most hate for and listen I understand why I did. I’ve got a lot of work to do for myself to become a better person. I know my family come out and said about my ADHD while I was in the villa but that is no excuse for me. Yes, I might find certain things a lot more difficult than others but at the end of the day I need to take responsibility for my own actions and I’ll hold my hands up.
"I sometimes couldn’t watch how I was speaking and acting in certain situations but I’m actually glad I’ve watched it because now it’s really opened my eyes up and it’s time to work on myself for myself..
"I want to finish off and just say how overwhelming it is to see how much support Im getting from you people. If it wasn’t for yous I would be in such a worse head space than I am right now so thank you so much for that. You people that have had my back and messaging I have been reading them every night laid in bed overthinking everything and thinking the worst about everything but you people got me through it. I do really appreciate the love, honestly thank you so much ❤️."
In addition to his raw Instagram post, Jacques did the media rounds at the time (something that concerned many of his fans). In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Jacques revealed, "I thought if I don’t get myself out (of the villa) things could go horribly wrong and I could get physical.”
He also revealed that "doing Love Island was the worst decision of my life.”
Fans have had plenty to say about Jacques on and offline since he left the villa, but concern ramped up following his appearance on Love Island: Aftersun. Many were quick to take to social media to share their concern for Jacques' wellbeing with countless fans wondering why he was "paraded" on the talkshow spin-off, after admitting to struggling mentally while filming the show.
One user tweeted, "you can tell jacques is genuinely not okay right now itv let him go home #LoveIsland #aftersun."
Another appeared to call out producers for not putting Jacques' welfare first, "how have these producers put jacques on THIS aftersun finding out paige kissed adam live?? AFTER HE LEFT FOR HIS MENTAL HEALTH #loveisland #aftersun."
A third fan added, "After that interview on aftersun jacques needs to look after his mental health. He looks so sad in his eyes. I don’t think what he did was okay but it’s not worth tearing someone down to the point they look close to tears everytime he’s on tv. #loveisland."
Interestingly, Dr Ellie, who works on ITV's This Morning tweeted her concerns for Jacques, writing, "I hope you are giving #Jacques help @LoveIsland because he doesn’t seem in a good place.
"#LoveIsland He seems in distress and he needs taking care of.
"I don’t think parading him on #loveisland #aftersun was a kind idea."
Does Jacques O'Neill have Instagram?
You can follow the Love Island 2022 star at @jacques9oneill_.