Zara McDermott: Why she’ll never return to reality TV

Like many former Love Islanders, Zara McDermott followed up her 2018 villa appearance with some more reality telly. This included an appearance on 2019’s Celebrity X Factor and a stint on Made In Chelsea alongside her boyfriend Sam Thompson. However, she now says she won’t be doing more reality TV in the future.

Why Zara McDermott quit Made In Chelsea

While Sam is still a Made In Chelsea cast member, Zara made her last appearance on the show back in December 2020. In an interview with The Sun this week, Zara revealed that she has ‘definitely quit’ reality TV and won’t be returning to the series. She said:

I have loved doing reality TV and don't regret any of it. I just hated all the trolling. It is also hard because you have to relive things so many times. You go through it in real life, and then you have to keep reliving it on camera. Then you have to relive it all over again when it's on TV and everyone has an opinion. Facing the public backlash is awful.

Zara said she and her family were even subjected to 'disgusting and scary' death threats.

Zara McDermott documentaries

After the success of her BBC3 programmes Revenge Porn and Uncovering Rape Culture, Zara is now focusing on documentaries. She described making the shows as ‘cathartic’ and ‘like a giant therapy session.’

But Zara hasn’t turned her back on reality TV entirely - she’ll just be a presenter instead of a participant. As well as planning to study documentary producing next year, Zara is also set to present BBC3 dating show Love In The Flesh. It will follow couples who got to know each other on dating apps heading off on holiday for their first in the flesh meeting.