Love Island’s Sam Bird downed pints of vodka and put on two stone after turning to booze following Georgia Steel split
LOVE Island's Sam Bird has revealed he downed pints of vodka and put on two stone after turning to alcohol to cope with the stress of his split from Georgia Steel.
In an exclusive chat with The Sun Online, the reality TV star says he has suffered online abuse from fat-shamers after losing his impressive six-pack.
The 25-year-old has today spoken out about how his weight crept up after months of late-night PAs at nightclubs where he would down spirits.
Sam told us: "When I first broke up with Georgia I was just getting drunk to get away from it all.
"I was drinking heavily most nights of the week.
"I would normally down pints of vodka, which is like six or seven drinks every night.
"It was all getting a bit too much. I was drinking to be able to deal with it.
"I had no motivation to exercise because I'd always be hungover.
"Slowly but surely the weight piled on."
Sam's unhealthy lifestyle started after he dumped his former girlfriend Georgia when he found X-rated messages she'd sent to her ex.
Before Love Island, Sam was hitting the gym for two hours every day and weighed 11 stone.
His fitness level was through the roof, giving him the confidence to show off his abs in the villa.
But Sam believes it's dangerous for celebs to be under so much pressure to maintain the perfect figure.
And even though he hasn't been left troubled by the abuse, Sam has been inspired to speak out after trolls mocked his weight gain on the Love Island Christmas Special and when he was backstage at Dancing On Ice supporting his former co-star Wes Nelson.
"You could see from my face that I've put on a bit of weight," said Sam, who is keen to stress that he knows he's still a healthy size.
"I started getting tweets about it.
"It doesn't bother me. I laugh it off, but some people really aren't thick-skinned enough to cope with it."
That's why Sam is launching a campaign to help his followers gain body confidence - without having to get a six-pack.
He's ditched the takeaways and heavy drinking to spend more time in the gym with Love Island lads Adam Collard and Jack Fincham.
He's also writing a fitness and nutrition plan to share with his fans.
Sam will sell it for £5 and donate the cash straight to the charity which helps men with their mental health.
He added: "It's dangerous for men who feel like they can't speak out about this sort of thing.
"For some male celebrities, the work is not always coming in. Many turn to alcohol and their weight can creep up.
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"I wasn't an alcoholic, but I was using alcohol to cope.
"You can get yourself in a really bad place.
"I was worried about speaking out about it because guys think that girls will only like guys who are ripped and have a six-pack.
"But I thought, 'I don't care', I'm just going to own it. It's all about your confidence, it's a good thing to have."
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