Former Loose Women presenter Kate Thornton has spoken about overcoming a teenage battle with anorexia.
The TV star has revealed she began an unhealthy obsession with her weight after she was targeted by bullies at school for being fat.
She tells New magazine, "I was a very happy child with an amazing extended family. Then I started secondary school and that's when things started to go wrong for me.
"I had a bit of puppy fat at the time and a group of girls started bullying me. One girl, Michelle, used to beat me up every Wednesday and I had girls calling my home making death threats.
"I would physically shake going to school and to this day, I have no idea why I was picked on so badly."
As a result of the cruel taunts from the bullies former X Factor presenter Kate tried to hide from her enemies in a bid to feel happier.
She adds, "I wanted to become invisible so they would stop hurting me. I thought I was being singled out because I was big, so I wanted to shrink and not be seen any more. As a consequence, I went on my first ever diet, aged just 11."
It was soon after this that Kate's diet became more extreme and before long she was skipping meals altogether.
She explains, "I started off by skipping the odd meal. But soon I was barely eating anything. I used to throw my breakfast and packed lunch away, so by lunchtime, I desperately needed something to keep me going. I would eat dinner with my family, then go upstairs and make myself sick.
"My family had no idea because I was so clever about hiding everything."
Luckily, Kate's parents eventually discovered her unhealthy secret and intervened - and her recovery gave her a new high: "I did a calorie-controlled diet and I put on weight very slowly. I was ready to get better. I was exhausted by the lying, the deceiving and feeling so empty."
A documentary about Kate's old eating habits, Kate Thornton - Anorexic: My Secret Past, will air on 18 January.
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