After leaving the villa, she felt huge pressure to do well, with a lot of people assuming she would become a big influencer.
But she was only able to stay self-employed for a year through a few brand deals.
“They were really, really fun but I found myself entering kind of like a toxic state, my success measure just being completely off, and I was measuring success with the amount of followers that I had, with the amount of brand deals that I had,” she added.
Ellie said her mental health suffered, and some months she would make lots of money, the next, nothing.
There was also negative comments online from people who didn’t know her. She added: “I think after a while, you kind of learn how to cope with them, the block button is free.”
Ellie said she “completely forgot” how successful she was in other ways.
“I just forgot about that part of my life where I’d got an English degree, I got into a really big accountancy firm,” she said.
“I’d forgotten about that and just solely just made my life dependent on my followers and my social media, which was wrong.”
Looking back she realises this was “really toxic”, adding: “I applied to get back into my old job and thankfully they had me back.”
She now has her full-time salary again, with her social media work “a bonus”.
“I’m just really busy and I feel fulfilled now because I’m able to do both things that I love which is being successful at my corporate job and fingers crossed being successful with social media on the side,” she said.