Just having to watch 50 minutes of TOWIE is enough to drive the sanest of us over the edge, but just imagine having to actually be IN the show.
Not only do you have to chit chat about nonsense with people who still find it hard to spell their own names, you have to either cheat on your partner (or at least sex text someone) or have a screaming match with walking-talking mega-gob Megan McKenna.
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With all that on your plate it’s little wonder that some of the cast are at their wits’ end.
This week TOWIE veteran Mario Falcone has opened up about the depression that he suffered a few years ago that led him to take an overdose.
In an interview with OK! magazine, the hunky stud says he feels that the pressure of appearing on the show and the breakdown of a high profile relationship led to his breakdown.
When asked if the show was a catalyst, he admitted: “I think so, in the sense that it led to fame and public scrutiny – like appearing on any show.
“Also because of everything that happened in my first relationship on the show was a lot to handle. The public scrutiny you get when you make a mistake was just too much!”
He went on to explain that he was eventually diagnosed with depression and anxiety.
“I spoke to my brother-in-law Tom Fletcher [who has battled depression] about it a lot. I also saw a counsellor and he completely changed my view in everything. He gave me exercises that made me see the bigger picture.”
These days Mario, who is dating Becky Miesner, feels strong and confident enough that he will be able to deal with depression if it ever returned.
“I fell like that time of my life was the reason it becomes such an issue.The things that used to matter to me then, don’t matter to me now.”
Speaking a couple of years ago, shortly after he’d recovered from depression, he explained that life on TOWIE had been tough on him.
“I got myself into a monotonous routine, thing weren’t going well with Lucy,” he said.
“I had two girls coming into TOWIE and claiming that I’d slept with them both. My two best friends turned against me. And then I broke up with Lucy.
“In 24 hours my life had gone from being perfect to being in tatters.”
He then told This Morning viewers that he downed a potentially lethal cocktail of booze and pills.
“I look back at it now and I wonder how I ever got into that place,” he said.
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“It was very much an impulsive thing. I don’t think I wanted to end my life. I just wanted to end the circumstances I was in.
“I had got myself into a corner. I’d lost my friends, I’d lost my girlfriend. I was very isolated. I didn’t want to talk to anyone.
“It was more of a cry for help I guess.”