Sam Frost has detailed the difficult period in her life that led to her leaving Home and Away.
The actress and former Bachelor star left the soap opera shortly after facing massive backlash for a controversial Instagram video in which she described her reluctance to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in late 2021.
The 35-year-old told the Life Uncut podcast this week that she struggled with her mental health during that period and ultimately decided to step away from the show in the wake of that battle.
“That was a terrible year. A lot of things happened in my family life and a lot of things happened in my private life. It was a really disgusting time. “I don’t think anyone was okay during COVID,” Sam said.
“When I made the video about it, if you actually watch the video, it was about mental health and it was about me saying ‘no one is okay right now’ and regardless of what you think about these vaccines, everyone is struggling and you need to.” “Be compassionate and have empathy towards people who may think differently from you,” he continued.
Sam Frost (pictured) has detailed the difficult period in her life that led to her leaving Home and Away. The actress left the soap opera shortly after facing massive backlash for a controversial Instagram video in which she described her reluctance to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in late 2021.
“And the whole thing was twisted and taken out of context, and became much more confusing and uglier than it needed to be.”
Things came to a head for the star, who ultimately decided he needed time with his family to recover.
“I ended up saying ‘oh man, I need to go home and be with my family’ and that’s when I made the decision to leave Home and Away,” he said.
Sam left Home and Away in December of that year and previously reflected on being “shattered into fucking pieces” when she compared restrictions on the unvaccinated to “segregation” in her tearful Instagram video.
“That was a terrible year. A lot of things happened in my family life and a lot of things happened in my private life. It was a really disgusting time. “I don’t think anyone was doing well during COVID,” Sam said. Pictured at home and away
‘The harassment of unvaccinated people was disgusting. Friends I’d had for years stopped talking to me,” Sam told Stellar Magazine.
“I never said I didn’t want to get it. I’m not an anti-vaxxer, are you kidding me? But I think it’s quite unreasonable to assume that everyone is going to think exactly the same way and that people are going to come to exactly the same conclusion in the same period of time.’
The former Bachelorette also revealed that she only had “good intentions.”
“They tore me to pieces. “He was someone in a very vulnerable position talking about his struggles with mental health,” she said.
Sam, who joined Home and Away as Jasmine Delaney in 2017, left the Channel Seven soap two months after revealing she had not been vaccinated.
Things came to a head for the star, who ultimately decided he needed time with his family to recover.
Seven Productions had a policy requiring all cast and crew to be vaccinated against Covid; However, sources said last year that Sam’s departure was not related to the mandate.
Sam filmed his final scenes for the soap in December 2021 at Sydney’s Eveleigh Studios.
The actress sparked a backlash in October of that year when she revealed she had not received the Covid vaccine and also compared restrictions on the unvaccinated to “segregation”.
She said in a tearful Instagram video: “I was really hesitant about making a video or even talking about this kind of stuff, but I feel like we’re getting to a point in the world where there’s a lot of segregation.”
“There are a lot of judgments and harsh opinions that are expressed a lot and they are certainly taking a toll on my mental health, and I know that people around me are struggling, especially if they are on the side of not wanting to get vaccinated, for whatever reason.
“I ended up saying ‘oh man, I need to go home and be with my family’ and that’s when I made the decision to leave Home and Away,” he said.
“There are many different reasons why people don’t get vaccinated and it may be because of their medical history, their concerns, they may have a family history or it may be religious reasons.”
Sam later said she had not been vaccinated, but said she had spoken to her doctor and a psychologist about her decision.
He added through tears: “It’s a really difficult time to be in society right now and you feel less human and you feel like people are judging you.”
‘And you’re too afraid to talk about your opinion or your feelings and part of you wants to say, ‘Well, it’s none of your business why I don’t do it!’ And there are good reasons why I’m not and I don’t want to be judged.”
After facing criticism for his video, Sam deactivated his main Instagram account and blocked all comments on his mental health charity Believe’s account. He has since reactivated his accounts.
Channel Seven later announced Sam’s departure from Home and Away in December.
Her former co-star Lynne McGranger (right) told Nova’s Fitzy & Wippa that Sam was fully vaccinated.