Love Island winner Amber Gill shares her experiences of racism Who we are Contact Advertise Tips UK Write Tips News Trash Agenda Trends Opinion Guides UK Belfast Birmingham Bournemouth Bristol Brookes Cambridge Cardiff Coventry Durham Edinburgh Exeter Glasgow King's Lancaster Leeds Lincoln Liverpool London Manchester Newcastle Nottingham Oxford Sheffield Soton St Andrews Sussex University of East Anglia Warwick York Love Island’s Amber Gill says she lost 25,000 followers after posting about Black Lives Matter ‘I started to question whether what I was standing for was right’ 4 months ago Katelyn Mensah Love Island 2022 UK Love Island 2019 winner, Amber Gill, has revealed in a podcast she lost 25,000 followers on social media any time she posted photos at a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020, and shared her own experiences of racism in the UK. Working with National Lottery Good Causes, in her new podcast Amazing Starts Here, Amber speaks with young activists, including those who are fighting to end female genital mutilation and reframing grief. In the first episode of her podcast, Amber speaks to Amaal Ali and Mariama Sanneh, two young activists who have been raising awareness around racism and gender equality for Integrate UK. Amber shared she finds it stressful to speak about issues she is passionate about. She said: “I do like to talk about things that I’m passionate about, but then I don’t know if it’s because I’ve got like a platform where I’ve probably got a diverse audience that aren’t going to agree with everything that I say. I find it very stressful sometimes, even though I know I’m doing the right thing. I find it a lot of pressure.” via Instagram @amberrosegill Young activist Amaal reflected on a time she was doing a Black Lives Matter workshop and she felt anxious speaking about it. She said: “You know, these things are just. You don’t realise how much they do affect you. Whether you’re just consuming the media, or whether you’re on the front line or you’re talking about it, it can be very overwhelming.” Amber agreed that although it’s a hard thing to speak about, it is the right thing to do. She said: “When I was attending the BLM protests in 2020, I lost about 25k followers every time I posted pictures from the protest, it really took an emotional toll on me. I started to question whether what I was standing for was right, whether I have the right to be talking about these issues and whether I should just shut up. So, there are times where I need to take a break from things.” When Amber spoke about racism in the UK, she shared that looking back, she experienced a lot of microaggressions when she was growing up. She said: “Whether people knew, or they didn’t know. I didn’t know at the time what was going on, I just thought people didn’t like us or whatever, but I experienced a lot of that, and I think it’s more like that in the UK.” via Instagram @amberrosegill Amaal Ali shared in primary school she was a minority due to her religion and race and felt “very othered”. When it came to speaking out against racism and other issues, she said: “People are already looking at me or speaking about me. So why not just speak about the things that I find really important?” Amber said there is a narrative about her from being on Love Island that people think she cannot speak out on certain things. She said: “I would never and I’m not speaking out about things because they’re trending, or I want to look good. I actually care. But we all got tarred with the same brush.” Featured image credit via Instagram @amberrosegill. Related stories recommended by this writer • ‘She’s got problems downstairs’: Deliveroo rider targets student for ordering thrush cream • ‘F**k the Supreme Court’: All the Glastonbury artists who spoke up about abortion rights • Here’s everything we know about Greta Gerwig’s mysterious upcoming Barbie film Katelyn Mensah Love Island 2022 UK RECOMMENDED READ So here’ s how to get into HUNDREDS of museums art galleries and exhibitions for free All you need is a fiver Art Fund Sponsored BRANDS ‘If I’m not winning, no one should’: Sminty Drop on her shock early exit from Drag Race UK Harrison Brocklehurst Trash UK ‘They had to get rid of me to give somebody else some airtime’ Kwasi Kwarteng only lasted 38 days, but these memes will live on forever Izzy Schifano Agenda UK ‘I’ve had some cheese in my fridge that’s lasted longer than him as chancellor’ This is where the real life family from Netflix’s The Watcher are now Georgia Mooney Trash UK They suggested Netflix include a scene where the house burns to the ground MAFS UK was the wildest show of the year and these 22 memes from the final prove it Harrison Brocklehurst Trash UK Kwame’s bench will haunt us all forever This is what everyone is dressing up as for Halloween, according to Google Georgia Mooney Trends UK Going as anyone from the cast of Euphoria is so pick me x George has been ‘ruled out’ of the Married at First Sight UK reunion by Channel 4 Harrison Brocklehurst Trash UK The rest of the cast will reunite on Monday and Tuesday next week Guys Francis Bourgeois has his own show coming out next week Hayley Soen Trash UK Chloe Burrows from Love Island features too! These 20 Russell Group universities are officially the best in the UK right now Izzy Schifano News UK Brb applying to Edinburgh right now x Real Broaddus family was paid by Netflix for The Watcher and made demands about the show Hayley Soen Trash UK They’ve said they won’t be watching the thriller series about what happened to them Who lives at 657 Boulevard now What happened to real house from The Watcher on Netflix Hayley Soen Trash UK The Broaddus family sold up in 2019 Every cast member of Married at First Sight UK 2022 definitively ranked from worst to best Harrison Brocklehurst Trash UK I will remember the drama they gave us til the day I die Meet the iconic cast full of famous faces in Netflix’s The Watcher Georgia Mooney Trash UK Jennifer Coolidge AND Hannah Montana’s grandma omg The creepy letters in The Watcher are real – here’s what they each said in real life Hayley Soen Trash UK ‘Will the young blood play in the basement? If you were upstairs you would never hear them scream’ People are making their houses into Stranger Things sets for Halloween and it’s incredible Hayley Soen Trash UK HOW do people make them look this good?! Omg, apparently the MAFS UK reunion is so explosive producers had to step in Harrison Brocklehurst Trash UK ‘The previous dinner parties have nothing on what’s about to happen’ As a student with OCD, this is what my university experience has been like Amy Varley Guides UK It’s changed my approach, but I’m still capable Just every single type of seller you will encounter on Vinted Ella Dickson Guides UK 3. The one who should get back to Depop Brianne Howey says season two of Ginny and Georgia is ‘done’ but explains its delay Hayley Soen Trash UK Finally some news! Here’s the chilling true story behind The Watcher, Ryan Murphy’s latest Netflix show Georgia Mooney Trash UK This is my idea of hell Rex Orange County fans are straight up burning their merch and removing tattoos Georgia Mooney Trends UK ‘Who wants to cut my arm off?’ An ode to Adrian: How the world fell in love with MAFS UK’s ‘Captain Curtains’ Harrison Brocklehurst Trash UK The nation cheered when he told Whitney to f*ck off Most Read Who lives at 657 Boulevard now What happened to real house from The Watcher on Netflix Hayley Soen Trash These 20 Russell Group universities are officially the best in the UK right now Izzy Schifano News All the 2022 MAFS UK cast s first Instagram posts compared to their most recent Katelyn Mensah Trash The creepy letters in The Watcher are real – here s what they each said in real life Hayley Soen Trash Meet Ruth Codd The 26-year-old who went from TikTok fame to The Midnight Club on Netflix Harrison Brocklehurst Trash Right just how successful are the millionaire cast of Bling Empire really Hayley Soen Trash The full true story behind the disgusting meat sandwich scene in the Jeffrey Dahmer series Hayley Soen Trash George has been ruled out of the Married at First Sight UK reunion by Channel 4 Harrison Brocklehurst Trash Guys Francis Bourgeois has his own show coming out next week Hayley Soen Trash Real Broaddus family was paid by Netflix for The Watcher and made demands about the show Hayley Soen Trash