Scott Thomas Opens Up About His OCD Struggles and Sobriety Journey
Scott Thomas, a former Love Island contestant, has recently shared his personal battle with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The 37-year-old TV personality opened up about these challenges during an episode of his podcast At Home With The Thomas Brothers, where he spoke candidly with his brothers Adam and Ryan.
Scott revealed that he initially hesitated to discuss his OCD diagnosis due to concerns about how others might perceive him. He had previously spoken about his struggles with alcoholism and other addictive behaviours, and he didn’t want to add more to the narrative.
‘If I didn’t tap something a certain amount of times, I thought someone was going to die,’ he said. ‘And I’d be speaking to myself going, “Everything’s okay. Everything’s okay. Everything’s okay.”’
He added, ‘I’ve not talked about this because I didn’t want anybody on my socials to think, “f***ing hell, is there any problems this kid’s not had?” Gambling, drink, everything. But then the more I’ve looked into it, I’ve been, it must be something to do with being neurodivergent, ADHD.’
Scott’s struggles with OCD eventually led him to stay at Priory Altrincham, a residential rehabilitation clinic in Hale that provides in-patient treatment for various mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety.
‘I was in Hale Priory for cognitive behavioural therapy to get rid of my OCD,’ he explained. ‘It was that bad that I couldn’t sleep in the middle of the night. I was literally just talking to myself going, “Everything’s going to be okay.” And even to this day, I still have OCD. And when I go to bed at night, I check my room three times. I check everything. Little things, and I check under my pillow, like just little things.’
Scott, who has been four years sober, previously discussed his addiction issues while preparing for his appearance on Love Island: All Stars in 2025. Speaking to the Daily Mail ahead of his second stint in the Majorcan villa, he shared his experiences with sober dating.
‘I’m not really good with dating, especially like sober dating. I found that really difficult,’ he confessed. ‘One of the biggest challenges when I went sober — I’m two years sober now and I did a year in 2020 — I found sober dating quite intense, quite difficult. And if I’m honest, I’ve not really been through relationships because I was working on myself.’
He continued, ‘I was a bit of a notorious party boy, I had a bit of a challenging relationship with alcohol and everything else. And I was just like, “you know what? I need to go on this journey and find me and look after me” and get back to the authentic Scott. I’ve kind of done that over the last couple of years and I was open.’
On how he approaches alcohol-free dating, Scott added, ‘The world is changing now. I’m becoming a lot more open to sober dating. I love a nice dog walk and going on coffee dates, so I don’t think [dating in the villa without booze] will be much of a challenge. But I tell you what, in series two, it was a big challenge for me. I was petrified going on dates without alcohol. I would literally run out and try and grab glasses of wine off the tables! But I don’t feel like that at all anymore, so it just shows the journey that I’ve been on.’
