Back on construction sites in the Granby area, Jacob Heiniger admits to having difficulty returning to a completely normal life.
“Everywhere I go, I still hear about it! Even on construction sites, I hear about it. It’s every week!”
— Jacob Heiniger, ex-candidate for Love Island
He feels indebted to the public, because people take the time to talk to him and tell him how happy they are to meet him. But even today, he says, it’s difficult to be recognized only as “Jacob-from-The-Island-of-Love.”
“What I find most annoying is that I am associated with Jacob de The island of love. Not Jacob Heiniger. That’s what’s hard for me today. You saw a person on TV, yes, but I’m not 100% like that person in real life,” he laments.
The pressure is high
For Jacob Heiniger, managing social networks is disturbing. Because not only does he no longer have a private life, but people aren’t always nice to him.
“They write to me to tell me that I don’t publish often enough or that I could do more story!” he mentions.
According to him, social networks are a vicious circle, which he would like to get rid of.
“You know, when I joined the show, I wasn’t known, my Instagram had 500 people. Now I have over 25,000! Yes, we feel indebted.”
— Jacob Heiniger
After his appearance on the show, going out became hell. And it’s not any better today.
“I used to go to festivals and have to leave after an hour because I was saturated with photos. But it’s an experience! Except that after two years, you start to get tired of being told: “hey, the guy from The island of love”.»
People who participate in reality shows are treated like big stars, but in reality, they are also ordinary people who sometimes have difficulty handling certain situations. Jacob remembers the time when he returned as a couple with Bianka Daoust, who also participated in The Island of Love.
“Last year, we were walking in Montreal and we had to hide in an alley! It did not make sense. It was crazy and we didn’t know how to handle it. We locked ourselves in my room in the basement and we didn’t come out anymore,” he says.
Jacob has several friends who have participated in other reality shows and he confirms that life is not always better elsewhere.
“There were people who were followed and who were offered slaps on the face. It’s really intense. It’s really risky to do a reality show. It follows you for the rest of your life.”
— Jacob Heiniger
Distinguishing fact from fiction
Following his experience as an islander on TVA, Jacob now feels like he has to walk on eggshells with the new girls he meets.
“If we disappoint them in one small way, it seems like we’ve ruined everything they thought of you. […] When she comes to meet you, she expects you to be like on TV,” he explains.
He adds that they often end up answering him: “Ah! I didn’t think you were like that.”
“I showed my true emotions on television, I think people still recognize me today because of that,” says Jacob Heiniger. (The Voice of the East)
Being on a reality show, he says, means being isolated from the outside world with all that that entails. “Emotions are amplified a hundred times. I’ve been emotional a hundred times. I opened myself times a hundred. I have been prime times a hundred. In real life, I’m not like that, I’m calm and more reserved.
He also believed that being in a relationship with someone who had the same journey as him would have helped him find stability.
“I told myself that she had done the same thing as me and that she would understand me. But the visibility on the couple is still great, the pressure is still great and that’s not what I want.”
He wants to meet someone who isn’t on social media and “in an ideal world, who would never have seen him on TV.” But he’s not ready to find love again, just yet.
A life lesson
Despite the inconveniences, Jacob’s passage to The island of love taught him a great life lesson. “It’s okay to be vulnerable in life. Just because you’re a guy doesn’t mean you have to keep it all inside,” he said.
“I would like guys to respect women and respect themselves too,” he adds.
Jacob Heiniger has no regrets, even if he admits to saying no, sometimes, when he is asked if he was the one who participated in the reality show. The advice he gives to people who want to do it is to wait until you are over 25.
“Younger, you don’t know yourself yet. The maturity level is not at top. What you’re going to represent on TV is what you’re going to represent for the rest of your life. It will follow you all your life. The video sequences remain.”
