Love Island winner Toni Laites: ‘My entire prize fund went on rent. I was living off my savings’

Toni Laites remembers feeling like she was being stabbed when she first became ill. “It was excruciating. But you never see it. I don’t look sick, so people don’t get it.” 

The 25-year-old, who won ITV reality showLove Island last year, has ulcerative colitis – a long-term condition where the colon and rectum become inflamed.

“Your insides are bleeding. There are ulcers on your colon. Diarrhoea. Throwing up. Losing weight. Exhaustion. Your body stops being able to process nutrients,” she says. 

“You’re drained. It affects your mood, alertness, your ability to go anywhere because you’re thinking about the next time you have to go to the bathroom.”

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It is the unglamorous parts of life which Laites is most keen to speak about in her first major profile interview with a UK publication, from being hospitalised with ulcerative colitis to struggling to find a place to rent in London as Love Island’s first American contestant.

Laites first had symptoms of colitis when she was 17, in her final year of high school. “It was supposed to be the most exciting time of my life. Prom is a big deal in America. Graduating, year-end sports, exciting things. I was in denial that I was sick.”

Then she collapsed at a music festival. She pretended nothing had happened but realised something was seriously wrong. After that weekend, she told her mother she needed to go to hospital. Laites had lost so much blood that she needed to have a transfusion, and she was put through test after test before doctors diagnosed her with ulcerative colitis. 

“A lot of people struggle to find out what is wrong because sometimes it’s mistaken for something else or doctors don’t believe you. Luckily, I had amazing healthcare in Connecticut from the children’s hospital. The doctor that was treating me saved my life. I still talk to her to this day,” Laites says. 

Laites says she felt like a prisoner in hospital, admitted two weeks before her prom. She lied to doctors to convince them she healthy, but blood results do not lie, and her levels of inflammation corresponded with Crohn’s disease and colitis. Doctors surprised Laites by releasing her for prom, but she thinks now she probably shouldn’t have gone.

It was difficult to tell friends about her illness. “I wasn’t telling my friends that I was bleeding out of my arsehole at 17,” she quips.

“No 17-year-old wants to be sick. You’re in the brattiest years of your life. I was rebelling in every area of my life, including my health. My friends were all going about living their life when I was stuck. I think that was the hardest part for me – not feeling normal. 

“I was miserable. I felt very low. I think mental health and chronic illness go hand in hand. And when you’re not able to go out and do things that you love, you’re stuck seeing everyone else around you living their life. It builds anger inside of you. Resentment. But it’s out of your control. I think I’ve learned now that I can’t always have control of everything, even when I want to.” 

Laites still struggles to speak about her illness. She says she hasn’t spoken in depth with partners about it, because “it’s hard to put into words sometimes”. She is in remission, but there are flare ups.

“Colitis is unpredictable. You can eat the same thing for a week straight and on the eighth day it upsets your stomach. I don’t have a specific diet I follow because I have gotten so much healthier,” Laites says.  

“But when you’re first sick, you’re restricted. No coffee, alcohol, seeds, spicy food. You’re not even really supposed to eat fruits and vegetables because it’s hard to digest. You’re on the mashed potato diet because it’s the easiest thing to tolerate. It’s what keeps the pain at bay.” 

At times, it has affected her confidence. “I had never lost so much weight. I had played sports my entire life. I was a healthy young girl until suddenly I wasn’t. 

“Even now, I don’t want to say I’m not a confident person, but being chronically ill, your weight fluctuates. It’s frustrating for me when I may be bloated and it’s my stomach causing that, and I read comments online saying: ‘She’s pregnant.’ I’ve got thick skin, but it gets to me.” 

After her first bout of illness, Laites became healthy enough to go to college in South Florida. On graduating, she started working at a high-end hotel in Miami, the Fontainebleau, waitressing on the beach and then as a pool cabana server. She was there for two years before moving to a new branch of the hotel in Las Vegas. 

It was there that she met Love Island producer Mike Spencer, who was on his honeymoon. 

“I told my mom and she said: ‘I think you should do it.’ We went through the pros and cons. It was a thought-out decision. But I don’t think I knew what I was getting into – the fame aspect, how many people watch the show, how crazy it would be to not have a phone for eight weeks.” 

Love Island is a bubble. Contestants aren’t even allowed to bring packs of cards or board games. There are no clocks. 

It’s especially tricky if you don’t get on with the other Islanders, which was Laites’ experience. “It was the first time in my life I felt like I wasn’t liked. I had always been popular. I think it started with the fact that I was American.” 

Laites later found friends in runners-up Yasmin Pettet and Shakira Khan. Pettet has Crohn’s and the pair bonded over their experiences, with both now Crohn’s and Colitis UK ambassadors. Laites coupled up with Cacherel Mercer, and they went on to win the show. 

Love Island is past its peak viewership, but the launch episode of Laites’ season in the summer of 2025 still got 2.6 million views.

“It was scary,” Laites says of leaving Love Island. “I was lost. I was scrambling to find management because that’s really what gets the ball rolling for you. I’m so thankful for my team because they’ve made all of this somewhat digestible. It was just so crazy coming out and seeing how many people were following me and supporting me. 

“As much as it is hard, it was rewarding. It’s a lot of love. It’s not like people are throwing tomatoes at me on the street. I think people resonated with my story. I’m proud of myself at the end of the day. This last six months has been really hard. But I know it will all be worth it.” 

Laites faced the extra challenge of moving country – both for work and her new relationship. 

“It’s hard to immigrate to a country for anybody. And if anything, I had it easier than a lot of other people because I had the resources. You have to fill out a million pieces of paperwork. It felt never-ending,” she says.  

Home Office rules mean that you cannot apply for a visa from within the UK, meaning Laites had to return to the United States. She flew to New York and waited a week for the visa to be approved, and further rules mean she could not do any work in the UK while she waited. 

“I was probably missing out on work. I couldn’t work at all. I couldn’t make a pound in this country. I couldn’t post a minute-long video on TikTok,” she explains. 

ITV had put her in a hotel for a couple of weeks after the show, but after that she had to find her own place to live. “It was my responsibility if I wanted to stay here. I’m not sure that the network ever thought that I would win. They’d never had an American.” 

Laites was criticised for saying on social media that she was homeless after the show – but she didn’t have anywhere to live. 

“They were mad at me for that one. But I didn’t have a home. I was living in hotels and Airbnbs. I was viewing apartments and estate agents wouldn’t show up. It’s not like that in America. They go based off credit score. I worked for years to have a perfect credit score. When I came here, it was like my hard work was forgotten about.” 

She paid six months of rent upfront to secure a flat in London. 

“Not many people can pay six months of rent up front. My entire prize fund went to rent [half of the £50,000 she shared with Mercer]. I was living off savings from my regular job because I couldn’t work here. Not to mention paying for all those Airbnbs and hotels – they weren’t free,” she says. 

“I did it alone, so that made it even harder. Renting is very expensive in this city. I was bleeding out money.”

Laites recently slammed the UK council tax system on social media, asking: “Who is the council and why are they charging me £1,200?” 

Living in London has been difficult, the winter especially (she says she teared up when she felt the sun touch her skin in February), and since our interview she has been embroiled in a tabloid storm about her relationship status.

But work has been good. “I’ve gotten jobs that have made the little girl in me cry,” she says, adding that she hopes to be back on TV – hopefully presenting next time. 

“I don’t want to forget where I came from. Love Island gave me an amazing platform. But I don’t always think it’s the most respected show. I want to build a career for myself, not just a moment. I want people to know me 20 years from now.” 

Maybe best of all, Laites’ health has been good. She hasn’t had to engage with the NHS yet. 

“I’m working on it. I’ve never had free healthcare before. I still need to find a doctor. I need to find a dentist. I need an eye doctor. I need to do all of these things that no one really thinks about,” she says. 

Laites wants people to know that it is possible to live a normal life with chronic illness – or, she hopes, an extraordinary one. 

If she could speak to 17-year-old Toni, who felt like a prisoner in that hospital eight years ago, she would tell her: “It’s all going to work out, girl. Don’t you worry.”

If you are experiencing similar symptoms or you have already been diagnosed with IBD, Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, you can find advice and information from Crohn’s and Colitis UK.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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