Ekin-Su Cuculoglu has spoken out after her time on Celebrity Big Brother, and quitting the final.
On Friday, evicted housemates including Lauren Simon and Zeze Millz returned to greet the finalists of the revived reality programme, which saw David Potts crowned winner.
He was up against the likes of This Morning legend Fern Britton and former X Factor judge Louis Walsh, following Gary Goldsmith, Levi Roots and others being evicted over the last three weeks.
Love Island winner Ekin-Su, 29, had sparked immense backlash over comments she made while on the show, which saw her befriend Louis and Sharon Osbourne in particular.
She came under fire after being outraged at suggestions she was an OnlyFans model and claiming to not post any bikini pictures, which fans were quick to expose her on.
She also shut down any conversations about Love Island – despite mentioning the reality programme where she found fame multiple times herself – and was bizarrely hostile to her co-stars, turning her loyal fandom away, it appears.
Up Next
And after her family rushed to her defence over the trolling she was received, and her co-star Lauren spoke out over her social media silence, Ekin-Su posted a lengthy message on Instagram, saying she’s been ;taking some time to reflect’.
She wrote: ‘I know it’s unlike me to hide away, but I’ve been taking some time to reflect.
‘Sometimes in our lowest moments, we learn the most important lessons about ourselves.
‘I hope you don’t think I was selfish for setting boundaries and putting my own needs first last night.
‘I’m fully aware that not everybody will understand my absence, or think it was the right decision to make, but it was the right decision for me.’
‘I chose to remove myself from a potentially uncomfortable situation that I preferred to avoid,’ she went on.
‘I’m proud of myself for recognising what I need during this time, despite the hate that might come my way.
‘Accountability is key and when I’m ready, I will give some context around these past few weeks.
‘Thank you to everybody who has sent kindness my way, I see you, and I appreciate you. The new chapter starts now.’
She concluded: ‘I hope everybody enjoyed watching the CBB final. A huge congratulations to David for the win. Xx.’
Following her eviction, Ekin-Su claimed in her exit interview that she was given an unfair edit by the Celebrity Big Brother production team.
‘You haven’t seen everything, they’ve cut stuff out,’ Ekin-Su insisted, but hosts AJ Odudu and Will Best were also quick to point out that she had just left the house herself, and so hadn’t yet watched anything back or knew what had made it to screens, as well as noting that everything shown had come from Ekin-Su’s own mouth.
Ekin-Su said she was upset that she wasn't shown as herself on the show.
While on the show, Ekin-Su's mom also tried to defend her, but the comments ended up causing a lot of problems.
After the episode, 139 people complained to Ofcom about 'the way Ekin-Su was treated by the presenters and guest panel', and her former housemate Lauren later talked about the situation and Ekin-Su’s silence on social media.
Saying she doesn’t blame the Turkish actress for staying away from social media after Late & Live ‘at all’, Lauren shared: ‘I also had an interesting experience at Late & Live, and I felt that when you’ve just come out of the house and you’re so nervous, sitting there is the most horrific thing.
‘We sat there for two hours and it’s so torturous, and you’ve got all these different emotions because half of you wants to go home and the other half thinks you’re letting yourself down because you’ve been voted out.
‘And also the booing, the public coming out, we didn’t know what we were coming out to, it was so scary.’
She continued: ‘And to come out, and have the questions thrown at you like that, I had it and it was so horrible. It’s not right, it’s wrong.
‘I think they were quite forceful with myself and with her, which is why I didn’t go back to Late & Live either, in fairness.
‘I felt that when they asked me a question about how many people do you think nominated you, and I said five, and they said, “No actually it was the whole house, eight, look, watch” and okay fine, I know that’s their job to show me, but it was like, “Do you want me to sit there and cry too?”
‘I just think it’s a bit harsh, and I think that they were asking her how she came across, I don’t think they were particularly gentle with somebody who has come out of a situation that is so stressful.’
‘A little bit of compassion goes a long way,’ she added.
Her comments come after Ekin-Su’s family asked Celebrity Big Brother fans to stop sending her online abuse.
Celebrity Big Brother is available to watch on ITVX.
