Radio personality and former Gogglebox star Yvie Jones has opened up about her eating disorder struggles in a candid conversation on her Summer Breakfast show with Grant Denyer.
Earlier this year during her stint on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Yvie delivered an emotional speech on body image and eating disorders after she was asked to weigh-in in front of the rest of the camp.
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“I’ve had an eating disorder most of my life,” Yvie said. “And I’ve grown up in a house where I was told one of the worst things to be was overweight.”
“I wish we lived in a different world, where what we looked like doesn’t matter,” she said through tears in the episode that aired back in February.
On Thursday’s episode of Hit Network’s Summer Breakfast Show, Yvie spoke about her growth since the episode, admitting that she still struggles.
“I developed an eating disorder quite young and have continued with that the rest of my life. Everything I’d done and followed on social media… I was just so sick of the diet culture. And I worked so incredibly hard to not have triggers.”
Yvie, who says she doesn’t view herself as a “body positive warrior”, wants to inspire others to focus on feeding their body and listening to what it needs.
“My psychologist and I have worked so incredibly hard to get me into a place of acceptance that when I saw those scales, the first thing it did to me was trigger me,” she said. “It took me back to every single time I’ve had to stand on a scale — at the doctors’ office or a Weight Watchers meeting, at a friend’s house, or in your own bathroom — in a way that you do every single day… You get obsessed with those scales.”
Almost a year after her original speech, Yvie made sure to re-instil her important message around eating disorders and body image before the festive season kicks off.
“Unfollow anyone who makes you feel bad,” she said. “It’s okay to unfollow someone in real life as well.”
If you are struggling with an eating disorder, there is help. Call The Butterfly Foundation on 1800 ED HOPE, Lifeline on 13 11 14, or Kid’s Helpline on 1800 459 975.
