"I had kind of lost myself and for a while": Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu opens up about quitting Instagram after Celebrity Big Brother exit

Reality TV star and Love Island 2022 winner Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu broke her silence on social media on April 1 after a three-week hiatus from Instagram. This came following her eviction from the latest season of Celebrity Big Brother and subsequent interview on the companion program Celebrity Big Brother Late & Live on March 15.

Taking to Instagram to pen her thoughts, Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu stated that she took some time off to "reflect, recharge and restore", continuing:

"Haven’t felt myself for a long time, and I’ve realised i had kind of lost myself and for a while didn’t know who I was beyond being defined by ex relationships or TV shows, and that needs to change!"

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Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu opened up about her time at Celebrity Big Brother

Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu's latest post on Instagram showed different pictures of her as she explained to her audience why she decided to take some time off for herself after her controversial Celebrity Big Brother appearance. The pictures were captioned with:

"Just a little message to say hi. Thank you once more for all your kindness. Took some time off to reflect, recharge and restore which i’m still very much doing but I’ll need to be back online for work purposes especially."

The British-Turkish television star continued in the Instagram caption that she was excited for "all the growth and full healing" her time off had given her. Dubbing Celebrity Big Brother "the final lightbulb moment" she needed to help her realize what had to be done. She concluded her message with:

"Embracing the fresh start to a new month and new era…. Wishing everyone an April full of possibilities. I am so grateful for each one of you."

On March 23, Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu took to Instagram stories to reveal that she would not be joining her former contestants as they all gathered for the Celebrity Big Brother finale on March 22. She also stated that she hoped to not be labeled "selfish" for setting boundaries and putting her own needs first.

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Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu faced immense backlash following her Celebrity Big Brother eviction

Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu was one of the many contestants to be embroiled in controversy at the 2024 edition of Celebrity Big Brother. On March 15, Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu became the fourth housemate publically voted out of the house.

Her exit interview that immediately followed on Celebrity Big Brother Late & Live on ITV2 was met with immense backlash.

During her time in the house, Cülcüloğlu clashed with fellow housemates, including Fern Britton, Marisha Wallace, and Zeze Millz. Her clash with Wallace saw the latter vote for Cülcüloğlu to be nominated for eviction.

Following her eviction, Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu sat down with Late & Live hosts AJ Odudu and Will Best, and guest panelist Layton Williams, for her post-eviction interview.

However, the interview took a downturn as Cülcüloğlu accused the show's production team of giving her an unfair edit, saying "You haven't seen everything, they cut stuff out." She also claimed to be hurt that she "wasn't portrayed" as herself on the show.

Host AJ Odudu immediately defended the show, saying that "everything that has been seen and has been shown" on the show has been said by Cülcüloğlu. Layton Williams also hit back against her statement, saying:

"You're not going to blame it on the edit. One thing you're not going to do is blame it on the edit. We see what we see and it's a shame."

The interview, dubbed "excruciatingly awkward" by viewers on social media, saw the show and ITV receive an uptick in complaints. Over 139 people complained to the government-owned telecommunications regulator Ofcom about "the treatment of Ekin-Su by the presenters and guest panel" following the episode.

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Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, 29, won the eighth season of ITV's reality dating show Love Island in August 2022. After this, she appeared in Dancing on Ice (2023), The Wheel (2023), and The Traitors US (2024).

Love Island 2022 winners Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Davide Sanclimenti at the Transformers: Rise of the Beasts premiere (Image via Getty Images)

She entered the Celebrity Big Brother house on March 4, 2024, just weeks after she and her Love Island boyfriend Davide Sanclimenti announced their breakup on their Instagram stories on January 30.