Montana Brown broke down in tears during This Morning today as she revealed the moment she discovered her close friend Mike Thalassitis had died.
The Love Island star was found dead on a North London forest on Friday night, with police confirming the 26-year-old passed away from suicide.
Montana – who spent the summer of 2017 with Mike in the Love Island villa – bravely opened up about the tragedy, and sobbed as she told Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield how she forgot to reply to his final text to her.
‘One of my friends text me saying I don’t know if this is true but I’ve heard Mike took his own life. I was sat in the pub and thought, “That’s not true.”
‘I text him to say, “There’s this really weird rumour going around, call me when you get this.” It didn’t deliver, it just had the one tick on Whatsapp, and then that rang alarm bells. It went straight to answer phone and I felt sick.’
Montana then revealed that Mike text her two days before his body was found.
‘I’m kicking myself because he text me and I just didn’t reply, just because I’m really bad with my phone,’ she said.
‘I just wish I’d replied.’
Holly and Phil immediately consoled the grief-stricken star, assuring she ‘couldn’t possible know’.
An abundance of Love Islanders have paid tribute to Mike, with many pals insisting the ‘Muggy Mike’ character fans knew him as couldn’t have been farther from the persona they called a friend.
Chris Hughes urged fans not to refer to Mike by his stage name in an impassioned post on Saturday night, but Montana insisted the former footballer was a fan of his ‘Muggy’ moniker.
‘I feel like he had a part to play which was Muggy Mike,’ she explained, with a fond smile. ‘I think he quite enjoyed his name for what it was and he got a lot of jobs based on that name – it gave him a buzz.’
Love Island has since come under fire from some of its stars, who claimed they weren’t sufficiently prepared for life after the villa.
ITV have since told Metro.co.uk: ‘Care for our Islanders is a process the show takes very seriously and is a continuous process for all those taking part in the show.
‘We ensure that all of our Contributors are able to access psychological support before, during and after appearing on the show.
‘The programme will always provide ongoing support when needed and where appropriate.’
This Morning airs weekdays at 10.30am on ITV.
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