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Love Island-er Kem Cetinay has bravely opened up about his teenage years and revealed that he left school at the tender age of 13.
The 21-year-old Love Island favourite told Sunday Times Style magazine that he suffered from severe anxiety growing up and it was because of this that he was pulled out of school in Year 9, at the age of just 13, and didn’t sit his GCSEs (the equivalent to NCEA Level 3).
“People don’t know I didn’t finish school, that I was a different person to how I am now,” he reveals.
He says, “Anxiety can be a dark path if you don’t handle it well.”
He saw a counsellor every day for three years before he felt like himself again.
Kem, who has paired up with fellow contestant Amber Davies on the show, is now on a mission to encourage other men to talk openly about their feelings and to speak up if they are struggling.
He believes younger guys are often afraid to admit to feelings of anxiety and he hopes that by being open about his own struggles, he will encourage others to speak up too.
“It was only because I had the best help that I got through it. Talk to people, be honest about it – it’s so much better. A lot of guys have insecurities.”
