‘I followed Russell Brand – I’m so disappointed’ says Love Islands Malin Andersson

Malin Andersson has emphasised her disappointment in comedian and actor Russell Brand, after allegations of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse were published in a Dispatches documentary last week, which he vehemently denies.

Malin, who rose to fame on the 2015 series of the hit ITV dating show Love Island – where she shared a romance with Terry Walsh – admitted she followed a lot of Russell's advice during what she called her "darker days" but the recent allegations have left her shocked. "I followed his spirituality and whole journey – it's completely shocking," she said in an exclusive interview with OK!

The Channel 4 Dispatches special, Russell Brand: In Plain Sight, showcased footage which had been collected during a year-long investigation by Channel 4 Dispatches, The Times and Sunday Times.

Since then, Channel 4 and the BBC have both begun conducting internal investigations about allegations relating to behaviour while he was working for the broadcasters.

A BBC spokesperson said in a statement that the reports “contained serious allegations, spanning a number of years … Russell Brand worked on BBC radio programmes between 2006 and 2008 and we are urgently looking into the issues raised.”

Channel 4 said it was “appalled” to learn of the “deeply troubling allegations” and was conducting its own internal investigations.

Russell Brand vehemently denied all allegations in an almost three-minute video posted to his youTube account prior to the documentary being aired.

He said: "I’ve received two extremely disturbing letters – well a letter and an email – one from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks – as well as some pretty stupid stuff…

"Amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute. These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies. As I’ve written about extensively in my books, I was very very promiscuous. During that time of promiscuity the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual.

"I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent, and I’m being transparent about it now, as well. And to see the transparency metastasised into something criminal, that I absolutely deny, makes me think, ‘Is there another agenda at play?’"

In our interview, Malin said that she would read Russell's book and listen to his audio book about addiction when she was "smoking and drinking a lot."

"YepI'd listen to his breathing techniques at home – it's so easy to get sucked in," she claims. "All these women have come forward and that makes me feel so disappointed."

Malin said that while she had many dark times during her days of excessive drinking, smoking and sleeping pill addiction, the future is looking bright. The star has even embarked on a new life coaching side hustle.

"I absolutely love my life coaching. I’m so busy and it’s hard to fit it all in. I'm so fully booked with it, so I have to be careful that it doesn't take over my life, but it's so empowering and rewarding helping people on a personal level. It’s mad how many people have gone through what I've gone through so when I'm helping them out with struggles have been what I struggled with, it’s so rewarding. I can really relate to what a lot of people are going through.”

She also told us she's surrounded by less drama now. "I'm the happiest I've been because I don't have any bulls**t around me anymore," she claims.

Malin, who split from the father of her daughter, Jared, just weeks after her daughter Xaya's birth, has even put in healthy boundaries with her ex who she is still co-parenting with.

"The co parenting thing is something I’m still finding very difficult. I've had to put boundaries in place where I use my sister to do pick ups and drop offs with Xaya and that helps," she said. "Just putting boundaries in place gives us power in our lives."

This time of the year isn't an easy one for Malin either. Baby Loss Awareness Month is just around the corner, and two poignant anniversaries – one of the loss of her firstborn and the other the loss of her mum.

In December 2018 Malin gave birth to her first daughter, Consy, seven weeks premature. She was treated in Great Ormond Street hospital, but sadly passed away aged four weeks on January 22, 2019.

Malin also suffered the loss of her mum, Consy-Gloria, to stomach cancer in November 2017. She was just 65 years old. She said: "Around this time of year, it becomes hard and I do have these bouts of loneliness. I think with grief it's never healed. You just have to learn coping mechanisms."

The 30 year old has plenty of positives on the horizon, though, including a healthy focus on her new life coaching career, working out plenty and celebrating being smoke-free for two years – something that is especially important to the star.

Malin admits she believes smoking was the triggering point for her eating disorder. "I was using smoking as an appetite suppressor along with coffee and Red Bull – it definitely kickstarted my eating disorder," she said. She also knows all too well the addictive nature of the habit, but falling pregnant changed everything for her.

"My smoking hit its peak when I lived in Dubai because you can smoke anywhere, and they're so cheap to buy. But I quit two years ago because I was pregnant. It was a no-brainer for me to stop then – especially after what happened with my first child.

"After she was born there was no part of me that wanted to go back but when her dad left me when she was just two months old, I started again – by now though, I absolutely hated the smell."

Believing that smoking is usually a sign of something bigger though, Malin said that in most cases it's "important to pay attention to what void you're trying to fill."

Next month marks Stoptober when the nation is encouraged to say goodbye to smoking once and for all but Malin added that she still thinks there's a pressure in school. "It's so heartbreaking. I think there's a pressure in schools and this generation are still using it as an appetite suppressant."

Malin Andersson and Bobby Norris are supporting this year’s Stoptober campaign and are encouraging the nation’s smokers to give quitting a go this October. Stoptober is based on evidence showing that if you can make it to 28 days smoke free, you're five times more likely to quit for good. For free support, search ‘Stoptober’

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