Zara McDermott reveals why she's taken a 'step back' from social media

TV presenter Zara McDermott has opened up about taking a step back from social media. The former Love Island star shared the reasons for her absence in a message to her fans this week ahead of her latest documentary's release.

Zara, 28, has worked on several projects for the BBC, including having fronted various documentaries, since rising to fame as an islander on the ITV2 show. Her next one, the two-part To Catch a Stalker, is set to launch on July 1.

She's now thanked fans for their support and revealed that she has "taken a bit of a step back" from social media, which she said can feel like a "quite heavy" space, lately. Zara said she had focused on work and being present instead.

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In a message on Instagram yesterday, she wrote: "I also just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who messaged me with regards to the story I posted the other day. If you didn't see it; I spoke about developing my next documentary and how I've been thinking of how to create a project about domestic abuse, coercive control and tech abuse."

Zara said that she received many responses. She shared: "I had thousands of messages and I'm still going through them, but I wanted to say the biggest thank you ever."

She added: "It's so nice speaking to you all because I've definitely taken a bit of a step back from socials to focus on my documentaries & other work / just focusing on being more present recently. Social media feels quite a heavy & negative space sometimes ... so to be able to feel like we can work together to do something super positive is a great feeling. Thank you again."

The presenter continued by expressing her gratitude for the support she has from fans. She said in her message this week: "Forever grateful for all of you who continue to support the work that I do. It really means SO much!"

Zara went on to express concern over misinformation and people "hiding" behind social media accounts. Speaking about a project, she said: "It was really interesting to dive into the psychology of how we, as humans, can get so embroiled in this behaviour and how we can easily be fooled into believing what we are reading."

She continued: "A lot of you suggested a deeper dive into the Tattle unmasking that's been in the press recently and that's something I'm definitely keen to explore a bit further!" Zara concluded by thanking fans for the suggestion.

Zara's message for fans comes after her ex-partner Sam Thompson and Louis Tomlinson, whom she's been linked to in recent months, competed in Soccer Aid last weekend. The situation attracted much attention and made headlines.

There was said to have been an awkward dynamic between Sam and Louis whilst at the event, which was held at Old Trafford stadium in Greater Manchester on June 11. The pair didn't play on the pitch at the same time though.

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