Back in February this year, Gogglebox star Yvie Jones decided not to partake in a weigh-in segment during an episode of I’m a Clebrity…Get Me Out of Here, revealing that she had suffered with “an eating disorder” for most of her life.
During the same episode, her best friend and now Bachelorette, Angie Kent, also admitted that she too had a “dreadful eating disorder”, saying: “It lasted for ages. I only just started talking about it three years ago.”
Speaking about her struggle to the eventual winner of the show, Richard Reid, she went on to say how “sad” it was that people “get judged for stuff like that.”
“People think you’re doing it for attention or, they think you can snap out of it,” Angie said at the time.
“But it’s like an addiction. It’s like being an alcoholic or a drug addict, you’re addicted to that part of your life because that’s the only part of your life you can control…
“Most of it doesn’t even come from wanting to be skinny. It can be like, you have really bad skin, or you become obsessed with something because it’s going to be good for your body, and then you get so obsessed you don’t eat anything else. And then you get obsessed with getting skinny from it, and then that’s how it starts.”
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Angie shared how having an eating disorder still affects her to this day.
(Source: Now to Love)In a new interview with Now to Love [WATCH IN THE PLAYER ABOVE], Angie revealed why it was so important to share her story in such a public way.
“I think it’s so big to share any type of struggles that you have,” she said.
“For so long I hid the fact that I struggled with what I didn’t know was anxiety – I just, I didn’t know what it was, I had all these different feelings.”
As a teenager, Angie had a “dreadful” eating disorder which stemmed from the anxiety – and while it was many years ago, there are still residual issues.
“I had a dreadful, dreadful eating disorder which has affected many different things with me now,” she continued. “I have coeliac disease and endometriosis which I think is from having really bad bulimia and starving myself for years.”
WATCH NEXT: Eight things you didn’t know about Angie Kent. Story continues…
And while harrowing to talk about, the 29-year-old felt that sharing her story was important because “without them I wouldn’t be me”.
“At the time it was awful but I’ve worked through that and it’s made me the person that I am, and I think everyone should be able to talk about what they’ve been through,” she said, while adding advice to young men and women.
“Never change yourself for anyone,” she said. “Don’t hide if you’re struggling because I guarantee that the person next to you is struggling just as hard core but they’re frightened to talk.”
“As soon as we get the conversation flowing, then we don’t have to be frightened anymore because none of us are perfect. We’ve all got stuff we want to talk about and yeah, just don’t change yourself, because there are going to be other little weirdos out there just like you…and just like me!”
If you or someone you know needs assistance, please call the Butterfly Foundation on 1800 33 4673 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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