The way reality TV shapes viewers’ expectations of a woman’s body and what happens when she dares to let it change is strangely illuminating. Millie Court, who co-won Love Island in 2021 with Liam Reardon, has been dealing with that tension for a significant portion of the time since the show. Her experience isn’t dramatic in the manufactured sense. It’s more sincere and quieter than that.
Millie claimed to be a happy size 10 before she ever entered the villa. She was not giving dress sizes much thought. Something changed during the weeks of preparation leading up to filming. She started cutting back, working out every day, eating little more than salad, and watching the number on the tag drop from a 10 to a 6, knowing that she would be surrounded by slender, attractive women on national television. She became less curvaceous. Her appetite vanished. She claimed to have lost her happiness as well. She later wrote, “I was miserable while doing it,” to her nearly two million Instagram followers.
Things didn’t get better inside the villa. She didn’t eat much because of the heat, the stress, and her general distaste for the available food. She was the smallest she had ever been as an adult by the time she departed. Reality TV exerts a kind of pressure on women’s bodies that is rarely mentioned explicitly; instead, it works through comparison, implication, and the subtle suggestion that being on camera necessitates a particular silhouette. Millie was honest enough to admit later that she had fallen into it.
The intriguing part of the story is what happened after she left. After returning home, she regained her appetite and progressively went back to a size 10. She has defined it as regaining her confidence, curves, boobs, and bum. It’s difficult to ignore how honestly she discusses this without presenting it as a path toward personal growth or wellness. This was just how she liked herself.
Unfortunately, not everyone in the public shared in the moment. Comments started to appear when her size showed up in pictures and social media posts. Some were just careless. Others were hurtful because they were loudly and repeatedly speculating that she must be pregnant.
In a direct letter to her followers in March 2022, Millie addressed the issue, stating that she was not pregnant and that she was sick of being continuously criticized for her appearance, attire, and public persona. With a patience that seemed to cost her something, she pointed out how those comments might affect a woman who was having trouble getting pregnant or who had lost a pregnancy. It served as a reminder that online commentary seldom takes into account its potential impact.
When she spoke to Cosmopolitan UK in June 2022, her tone had become more assured. She claimed that she didn’t give a damn about what the media said about her size 10. She claimed that this was how she liked herself. She seemed to have overcome something genuine and come to a more stable place.
The silent toll that reality TV takes on female competitors is what Millie’s story consistently highlights. The contestants are released back into the world of comments sections and tabloid column inches after the show chooses a physical type and broadcasts it to millions of people. Some can do it. Some people don’t. Millie appears to have found her footing, in part because she is honest with herself and in part because she won’t make amends for a body that is, by all accounts, just her body.
She was thin and unhappy. She is now happier. It’s simple to say that, and it’s worthwhile.
