Prime minister Boris Johnson has appointed Love Island’s Dr Alex as a Mental Health Ambassador to advise the government from today.
The doctor reached fame through the ITV dating show Love Island and has since gone on to become a bit of a lockdown hero.
The 29-year-old will be focusing on youth mental health in his new role, something he is passionate about since he tragically lost his younger brother to suicide last year.
He will continue his day job as an A&E doctor while taking on the ambassador role, something he described as ‘the biggest moment’ of his life.
The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has appointed me as the Ambassador for Mental Health. I will be working with the Government to make mental health a priority, for both current and future generations. Now more than ever we realise how fundamental this is. It’s time for change 💙
Speaking to LADbible, Dr Alex said: “Losing my brother has been hard and I feel like, obviously nothing brings him back, but in some way it means I can actually do something positive in his name which is really important for me and my family. I feel proud, privileged and honoured.
“This is for him and I always say we do it together, we’re going through this together and I feel like he’s with me in some way in this and whatever I achieve, it’s with him. It feels very important to me and definitely to my family as well.”
Speaking about his role, he added: “Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think this would happen. I’m in a very privileged position to try and do something with this.
“It was a real awareness that this is the biggest moment in my life. I’m under pretences that today is the biggest moment of my life. I’ll never ever be in a position or do anything bigger than this.
“It is the pinnacle of the things I could ever hope for or hope to achieve.”
dralexgeorge/ Instagram
Boris Johnson spoke about the importance of the role, saying: “Children and young people have heroically adapted to save lives and protect our NHS.
“This has understandably had a huge impact on their mental health, so I want to shine a spotlight on this vital issue ahead of their return to school. I’m delighted that Dr. Alex George will be working with us as we do everything in our power to improve people’s mental wellbeing.”
Dr Alex is set to start his roll immediately, working within the Department for Education. He will remain independent from the government in his new unpaid position.