Love Island's Paige snubbed from paramedic job after sharing hopes to return
Love Island's Paige Thorne has revealed the "real reason" she quit her paramedic job after appearing on the ITV2 show.
The former Islander, 25, shot to fame on the dating show last year and gained millions of followers as a result. She also landed a six-figure clothing brand deal with Forever Unique.
Paige had trained to become a paramedic before joining Love Island and had planned to return to her profession after a stint in the Majorcan villa. She has now claimed she was snubbed by her employers.
In October last year, Paige posted a video of herself back in her paramedic uniform on her Instagram and revealed she was heading back into work.
She told fans at the time: "So, as you can see I’m back in my uniform, I’m about to be doing my first shift back.
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"A little part of me is nervous because it’s been so long since I’ve been off, but more than anything, I’m super excited to be back, back with my team, back doing what I absolutely love, what I’m passionate about, what I’m comfortable with, I just know it’s gonna be a great shift."
However, it appears that Paige's return to her day job wasn't to last as she was since revealed she was snubbed.
Welsh reality star Paige has now said: "I was like, 'I'll go back to being a paramedic,' but my job was like, 'Don't really want you to do that 'cos you post pictures in bikinis.'
"I was so upset, I worked really hard to be a paramedic, it was so much training and I worked three years before that, Covid did it all and they were like, 'Actually, thanks but no thanks'," she told the Not My Bagg podcast.
Paige trained to be a paramedic for years before the show (Paige Thorne/Instagram)
She appeared on Love Island last summer (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
In response, a Welsh Ambulance Service spokesperson told The Mirror: “Ms Thorne is a respected paramedic who worked very hard during the pandemic. We cannot comment on an individual’s employment status within the Trust.”
Fans were left upset at the claims Paige made as one said: "The NHS is in a dire state and could use all the paramedics and help they can get — but they’re forcing people to quit over bikini pics? So incredibly unserious. This actually pisses me off a bit."
"The ambulance waiting time is getting worse and they are laying off well-trained staff for what is there on their Instagram account? They could have just asked her to keep her insta PG if it was an issue but laying her off over it seems ridiculous," added another.
Someone else commented: "This IS misogyny because Alex George from the previous seasons went back to his job as an NHS doctor for several years and nobody had anything to say about it. The ambulance waiting times are longer than ever and this is where their priorities lie?"
Paige finished in fifth place on her series of the show, alongside her ex-boyfriend Adam Collard. The pair enjoyed a whirlwind romance in the villa, however, it wasn't to last when Paige accused Adam of cheating.
Last summer, Paige revealed how she was 'devastated' when she had to quit her paramedic job to go on Love Island. Speaking to Sharon Gaffka – who appeared on season seven of Love Island – on her Girls Know Nothing podcast, Paige said: "I tried all ways to keep my job and do Love Island at the same time."
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"When I did tell work I needed time off to go in [the villa] my manager was so supportive and she 100% backed me every step of the way.
"I tried taking annual leave, unpaid leave, a career break, I tried every single avenue possible to keep my job as well as do Love Island.
"But I think they were worried that if I went in and it’s like, 'Oh, the NHS is struggling this much and paramedics are struggling this much and you’ve let one have time off to go into Love Island'.
"It might have created more bad press and bad backlash that they just didn’t need, which I totally understand. So the only option I had was to resign, which I was devastated about."
After she left the villa, Paige exclusively announced to The Mirror she wanted to return to her job as a paramedic. "I will one thousand per cent go back to being a paramedic. I absolutely love my job," said Paige.
"It gives me everything I want from a job. I'm too much of a people's person to not go back to something like that." Speaking on ITV ’s Lorraine, Paige confessed she had a meeting to go back to paramedic work, which is "exciting".
She said: "I saw an ambulance the other day with a siren and I had serious FOMO. I’m going to go back into that a little bit."
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