Love Island's Alex George reveals he has regular Botox after tragedy triggered freak condition… & admits ‘people stare'

The Sun

3 days ago

LOVE Island star Dr Alex George has bravely opened up about why he has regular Botox injections in his face.
The 34-year-old, who featured in the fourth series of the ITV reality show in 2018, suffered an unimaginable tragedy five years ago.
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His younger brother Llyr, also an aspiring doctor, took his own life aged 19 in 2020, leaving Alex and his family devastated.
The sudden loss saw Alex struggle with PTSD, battle depression and pile on six stone.
But he also developed facial tics, which become worse when he is anxious.
Bravely opening up about how he copes with his demons, the Welsh doctor admitted he feels self-conscious of his involuntary movements, especially when people stare, and manages them with Botox injections.
"In my life there has been things that happened out of the blue that ended up being very difficult for me," he said.
'Bad things that then have made me very hyper vigilant.
'I have PTSD. I have had tics since I was very young - maybe eight or nine.
'They are linked to my neurodivergence, my ADHD, there is quite a lot of crossover.
'Interestingly when I am really anxious my tics get really bad, they get so much worse.
'Problem is, the more I focus on it the worse it is. If you bring attention to it, it just gets worse and worse.
'I think: 'Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it.'
'I've had Botox in my face to knock my tics out - it used to give me such bad headaches and facial pain so I just Botox it out.
'Maybe I should just stop it and just allow it. But I haven't quite got to that stage of it."
He added: 'People do stare at you. They look at you.
'Mine are my forehead and my nose. Because I can't Botox this area out, I still twitch a lot around my nose, mouth and lip.
'People who know me can see the twitch, they can see the tic, they know it is there.
'I have it a little bit in my arm as well, and my wrist. I roll my wrist and stuff.
'When you focus on it in a negative sense it just becomes worse and that feeds the anxiety of it as well.'
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At his lowest ebb, Alex turned to drinking heavily in a bid to numb the pain.
His weight soared from 14st to 20st, but he has since shed the pounds by overhauling his lifestyle, quitting booze for good and taking up running.
Alex also started taking anti-depressants and launched his campaign 'Post Your Pill' to remove the stigma and shame surrounding the medication.
And he got three inspirational tattoos, including one on his left wrist that says 'This too shall pass.'
Gut-wrenching phone call
Although Alex and Llyr were born ten years apart, they were very close.
Alex even chose his brother's unusual name, which means God of the Sea in Welsh.
Llyr was due to take up his hard won place at Southampton Medical School when he died.
He had no prior history of a diagnosed mental health condition, and had not disclosed how he was feeling.
Speaking on his new motivational health podcast Stompcast, Alex added how Llyr's death has changed his own outlook on life.
'My brother was alive one second, we had a phone call, and he is not here any more," he said.
'That is what I am looking out for in everything - my brain is going, 'You weren't prepared, and something really bad happened'.
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'So looking in any situation, 'What is the bad thing here?'
'And it is odd because when I was growing up, I was quite impulsive, I would go for life and do everything.
'Jump now and worry later, and I am so different to that now - since that happened.
'My mum often says, 'That boy within you, I used to say, slow down, think about this twice. It is a shame that has been dwindled a bit'.
'There is this constant need to be sure that everything is going to be ok. You can't.'
Former A&E doctor Alex failed to find love in the TV villa, despite a brief fling with brunette beauty Alexandra Cane.
Since his stint on the matchmaking show he has gone on to become a mental health advocate, and in 2021 he became the UK Youth Mental Health Ambassador.
He said: 'It was really interesting that when I was in med school, the med student's anxiety around health is really common - especially in the first couple of years, you start doing these cases of a new bodily system and disease associated with it.
'Every week I would be like, 'Oh my God I've got it.'
'I think I had every single disease in the first two years - seriously I would have to be like, 'Alex, stop, you are being silly'.
'By the third or fourth year I could have anything, so I stopped worrying about it.
'Everything could kill me, so whatever.'
You're Not Alone
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn't discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It's the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it's rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
That is why The Sun launched the You're Not Alone campaign.
The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives.
Let's all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others… You're Not Alone.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
CALM, www.thecalmzone.net, 0800 585 858
Heads Together, www.headstogether.org.uk
HUMEN www.wearehumen.org
Mind, www.mind.org.uk, 0300 123 3393
Papyrus, www.papyrus-uk.org, 0800 068 41 41
Samaritans, www.samaritans.org, 116 123
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 116123.
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