Camilla Thurlow broke down as she hailed the “ambitious and intelligent” Yazidi women she met while volunteering at a refugee camp in Greece.
The former ‘Love Island’ star had an emotional response as she made her first appearance on HuffPost UK’s docu-reality series ‘New Activists’, where she discussed the trip she made after being a contestant on ITV2 show this summer.
Camilla, who has worked as a bomb disposal expert, called the experience “the stand-out moment” since leaving the villa, admitting she counts herself as “lucky to have been given a bit of a platform and to have people that might listen to what I have to say about such issues”.
Becoming tearful in the episode of ‘New Activists’, she said: “Since we came out, the stand-out moment was in Greece, speaking to a group of young Yazidi women, and they have literally seen unimaginable violence. Terrible, truly terrible things.
“There were just this group of lovely, ambitious, intelligent people who just want to make a difference and help others, and I think that just sums everything up - that amongst the very worst of humanity, you see the very best.
“I think the most important thing we should be doing is making sure the the world does not forget or turn away from this huge crisis that is happening.
“As soon as you’ve seen that level of trauma, you just can’t close your eyes, you have to do something.”
She added: “I want to keep learning, keep being involved and keep positioning myself so that I think I’m doing the most I possibly can to be helping the most vulnerable individuals.”
Camilla was announced as a new addition to the ‘New Activists’ cast on Wednesday (18 October), and the coming episodes will see her visit Calais and Dunkirk alongside aid organisation Help Refugees to assist stranded immigrants.
In her first media project since finishing runner-up on ‘Love Island’, the cameras will follow Camilla as she prepares food, sorts aid and visits the most at-risk refugees, as well as supporting a women’s and children’s team with their outreach.
’New Activists’ is HuffPost UK’s docu-reality series which follows the daily lives of five highly-motivated young campaigners. The ten-week series documents the highs and lows of life as they try to change the world.