ELIMINATED Love Island Australia contestant Elias Chigros has slammed the show’s rules, describing his time inside the villa as a “mental game”.
Speaking to news.com.au following his exit on Thursday night’s episode, the personal trainer said the experience would see him “definitely not” go on another reality TV show.
“I was starting to lose my mind a bit. I’m not very good at being caged up and there is a lot of restrictions on what you can and can’t do,” he said.
“I was the one that was constantly being told off — no flips in the pool, no this, no that, put this person down.”
According to Elias, the worst rule he was subjected to was not being able to sleep until all the other contestants were in bed.
“The hardest thing for me was at night they didn’t turn the lights off until everyone was in bed,” he said.
“I’m a big sleeper so I would be lying there to all hours with fluorescent lights, [thinking] like kill me, turn the lights off.
“Things like that, that was the biggest mental game for me, just dealing with so much authority. It was like being a child again and I haven’t had that since I was 16.”
Elias defended claims from other contestants that he hadn’t been looking for love, arguing that he was searching for something deeper than what was on offer.
“I’m 27 and I am really looking for something quite serious … if I was 23, 24, on the same TV show there is a good chance I would of tried to pursue one of the girls further,” he said.
The personal trainer also revealed details of a rift between him and Justin Lacko, who was also eliminated on Thursday night.
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Elias said the pair had stopped speaking after an on-camera conversation escalated when filming stopped.
During an episode last week, the villa’s male contestants had gone to the beach, with Elias using the opportunity to tell Justin why he thought the male model wasn’t succeeding with the ladies.
“Girls have said that they think you’re camp,” Elias said. “Not referring to your sexuality at all, but like the way that you’re flamboyant … anyone who deserves to be with you, should easily be able to see past that.”
According to Elias, his comments to Justin resulted in the international male model having an
“adverse reaction” off camera.
“After that comment was made he had a very adverse reaction too off camera, it kind of got to the point where he said words and he might not have made it back into the villa,” Elias said.
“I think it brought up some trauma within him that he wasn’t fully aware of.”
An ITV Studios Australia spokesperson said: “Justin was never issued with a production warning about his behaviour during his time in the Villa”.
In an earlier chat with news.com.au, Justin slammed Elias, claiming he had behaved like a “show pony”.
“Definitely Elias was not in there for the right reasons, and I feel like some poor guy has lost his opportunity of walking in there trying to find love,” Justin said.
“He may be like Tarzan but I don’t see any girls swinging towards him.”
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