The mother of Love Island’s Anton Danyluk has opened up about a “scary encounter” she had almost 27 years ago in which she faced her brother’s “ghost”.
Sherie Ann, 59, tragically lost her brother Martin in a car accident in 1996.
But just a week after his funeral, Sherie, from North Lanarkshire, Scotland, said she saw Martin “standing outside the bedroom window”.
Sherie, who up until that point had “never believed in ghosts,” said she “took it twice.”
Speaking to The Sun, she said: “I looked back out and I heard Martin’s voice telling me, ‘Get to the office right now.’ I was shaking and I said to myself, ‘Sherie Ann, you’re losing it.’
Creepy: The mother of Love Island’s Anton Danyluk has opened up about a ‘creepy encounter’ she had almost 27 years ago in which she faced her brother’s ‘ghost’.
But the voice didn’t stop.
“Martin screamed this time,” she said. “He yelled, ‘Go to the office.’
“I was shocked. The scary encounter was real, my brother speaking from the grave. He was a spirit telling me to get up and go, stop grieving and go to work.
‘Immediately I went from unbeliever to believer.’
At the time, Sherie owned MacCorns, Scotland’s first popcorn company.
She started it five years ago in October 1991 and at first it was successful.
By 1995, the enterprising mum had secured a lucrative deal with Safeway’s – a big chain at the time – and started delivering up to 35,000 bags of popcorn a day to the supermarket giant’s 240 stores across Scotland.
“The company was my life and Martin worked for me,” she told the publication.
Close: Sherie Ann, 59, tragically lost her brother Martin in a car accident in 1996. But just a week after his funeral, Sherie, from North Lanarkshire, Scotland, said she saw Martin “standing outside the bedroom window”.
“It grew quickly and was worth millions of pounds when the supermarket deal was signed.
“I had 57 employees and was proud to have made popcorn a super snack success.”
Her successful business continued to grow and after winning another £250,000 order the bank offered her another quarter of a million to expand her business.
But in May 1996, the worst came when her brother died and her “whole world collapsed.”
Unfortunately, the new £250,000 order was drawn at the same time. To pay off the debt, an offer was made to buy her company for just £1.
She told The Sun: “My team was running the business and I thought everything was under control until Martin’s ghost showed up.”
When Sherie – ordered by Martin – came into the office, she was still wearing her pajamas.
She continued, “I knew I had to listen to Martin and put business first,” she said. “I’ve told everyone I don’t want it to be sold. I disagreed with the plan and vowed to return to work.
“I explained that I would find another way to keep the business going.
“I convinced everyone that my idea and renewed commitment were the solution.
“And thanks to Martin, I managed to avoid the sale.
Stint on Love Island: Anton finished fifth in the 2019 Love Island series after finally being paired with Belle Hassan was away from home
“I was able to renegotiate the debt, fulfill the outstanding orders, fight for the business and focus on making it more bespoke.”
After trusting her brother’s spirit, the influencer’s mother admitted she’s now converted to “all things spiritual.”
Speaking of her son’s time on the popular ITV show, she said: “When Anton appeared on Love Island season five in 2019, I knew the advice my brother’s spirit had given me put me on family and a family business to concentrate had come true. I could see Martin in Anton.’
It comes after Anton admitted there are days when he “regrets” applying for Love Island after being stalked by online trolls with allegations of plastic surgery.
The 28-year-old Scottish gym owner, whose fans claim he looks “hardly recognizable” since becoming a bodybuilder, admitted he tries to ignore negative comments but would be “lying” if he said they did sometimes don’t affect him.
In an exclusive interview with Web, Anton revealed that years of bullying at school, where he also suffered from an eating disorder, has left him vulnerable to the abuse and that he wishes others didn’t have to endure what he has.
He admitted the extent of the trolling forced him to ask his girlfriend Dom Blonska: “What’s wrong with my face?” who reassured he looks different since he was on the ITV2 reality show just four years.
Determined to use his platform for good, the TV personality has now launched a free app to improve children’s mental health, since he is so passionate about the cause.
New venture: The couple, along with their mother Sherie-Ann, are urging young people to think about the emotional impact of negative comments through The Can-Do Crew, available now
The couple, along with their mother Sherie-Ann, are urging young people to reflect on the emotional impact of negative commentary through The Can-Do Crew, available now.
He said: “It’s something we were working on long before the Love Island days. Apparently I ran my own fitness business before I started working with kids around 2013.
“And then, fortunately, we got Love Island’s huge platform, which allowed us to help thousands of children, it was always my dream.”
After being abused by some Instagram users who claim he went under the knife, which he denies, Anton hopes his new initiative will “teach children from an early age how to be a better person”.
He said: “It’s funny because as a kid I was bullied because I was overweight and that was the main reason I got physically into living a healthier lifestyle.
“Now, all these years later, I’m being bullied in a different form. I don’t think I could handle it as well as I do now if I never went through it when I was younger.
“I hope no kid has to deal with it the way I did. But my thing has always been that if I can help a person not to have to go through what I went through, I’m doing something right.
“I’m in a lucky position now. We have this huge, huge following, which means I can give back. I believe that what I have created with the Can-Do crew is what I can teach children.
Opening up: Anton Danyluk has confessed there are days when he ‘regrets’ performing on Love Island after being hounded by online trolls with allegations of plastic surgery
“Hopefully we can help kids around the world, not just in the UK, to deal with this and also deal with their mental state and not have to go through what I’m going through on a daily basis.”
When asked if he ever regrets his decision to audition for Love Island’s 2019 series, the star replied: “Yeah, I mean, I think we kind of called it the curse of Love Island, it’s like a Catch-22.
“I sometimes wish I had never done this so I didn’t have to go through this, but at the same time I’m like, ‘Well, I have this platform where I can do well.’
“I post fitness content every day and I know people will give me negativity for it. But if I publish it and it helps others, then it’s positive, isn’t it?’
Anton went on to reveal his plans to pressure the government and social media to crack down on trolling while going to schools to speak out about his experiences.
He said: “It’s a form of bullying and I think whether it’s Instagram, whether it’s the government, something has to be done to stop this trolling from continuing.
“Here in Dubai, trolling is actually illegal. You are not allowed to. I feel like someone or something just has to take a stance to say, “This shouldn’t be done.”
Open: The 28-year-old Scottish gym owner, whose fans have claimed he looks “hardly recognizable” since becoming a bodybuilder, admitted he tries to ignore negative comments but would be “lying” if he said that sometimes they don’t affect him (left: 2019, right: 2022)
On taking his fight to Parliament, Anton said: “That’s our plan with the can-do crew and hopefully trying to get into the schools.
“No one was ever born a racist. Nobody was ever born a bad person. It is their environment they are in. So if we can reach out to children from a younger age now and help them understand this in some way from a younger age, it will only benefit them later.
“So I’d love to be a part of that movement in a way, and I think if I have that platform too and I get it myself, I’d love to do something about it.”
“Once you have such a supernatural encounter, it changes you for the better,” she said.
Anton and Sherie Ann just launched an app called The Can Do Crew.
A feel-good program for the whole family, the app uses cartoon-style popcorn characters inspired by Sherie Ann’s life and the grief she experienced.
It encourages children to eat healthily, be mindful and exercise.
“The app encourages families to take the leap of faith, reconnect, reconnect and encourage kids to take personal responsibility,” she said. “It’s inspired by my leap of faith when Martin’s spirit spoke to me and Anton appeared on Love Island.”