The Guardian

The death of my mate Mike Thalassitis shows that reality TV is costing lives | Jonny Mitchell

The way this industry operates is toxic. Shows such as Love Island have to take better care of contestants
Mike Thalassitis. ‘The makers of these shows need to start fully explaining the negatives of entering this world and provide support for whatever eventuality people face on the other side.’ Photograph: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock

Those of us who are grieving the loss, who died on Saturday, remain shocked at his death. However, even now, you won’t need to look very far on social media to identify attacks and trolling that are the norm for people who have been on reality TV shows. One thing’s for sure, when the producers of sold us “the dream”, they never warned us about the reality we could face.

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