Frankie Bridge has fought back tears on Instagram as she bravely opened up about struggling with an eating disorder.
In a frank and honest confession on social media, Frankie said that her struggle had been a “dirty little secret” that she had kept hidden for years from those closest to her.
She told her followers that the disorder was a way of operating control over herself.
Frankie Bridge opens up about struggles on Instagram
“[Restricting my eating] has been a dirty little secret for so many years and my way of finding a form of control,” she said on Instagram Stories.
“I don’t think I was ready to give that up yet… [so] every time [a] therapy session [was] coming up, I would think of ways to try and cancel it, which is ridiculous.
“There’s such a sense of shame around food – especially talking about it. It didn’t sit right with me,” she said.
Frankie went on to share that she felt “embarrassed” after her therapist asked her to keep a food diary documenting what she eats.
“Last time she asked me to do a food diary was when I kind of bowed out and never booked another session in!” she explained.
She shared that she has had therapy for “years,” but still finds it tough to be open and honest about her disorder.
“I’ve had therapy for years about depression, anxiety, talking about really personal things, but for some reason, talking about food and weight seems so much harder for me.
“Is there any wonder heroin chic is back? Everyone’s gotta be skinny again,” bemoaned the star.
Plans to ‘retrain’ her brain
She also said she now needs to “retrain” her brain against the belief that carbs are “the devil”.
However, she confessed that the food diary – which she has finally attempted to start doing – has helped her refocus her thoughts.
Frankie added that she had been fearful of speaking out about her disordered eating, as she felt others around her would “judge” her for it.
The singer admitted that she constantly feels “shattered” due to her lifestyle.
“Of course what I eat or don’t eat in a day is going to make a massive difference – I would love to be helping my mental health instead of just relying on medication,” she concluded.
“And I would love to have more energy instead of always complaining that I’m tired at the age of 33, because sometimes I feel like I’m 100!”
‘I felt proud’
Frankie confessed that she used to feel content when going to bed hungry, and said that it brought her a sense of “pride” knowing she had starved herself.
She continued: “When I was younger, if someone asked me if I was unwell because I was so skinny, it felt like I’d won – and if I go to bed and I feel hungry, I feel proud of myself,” she shared.
“It’s just from that 90s mentality that is inbred into me and it’s going to be so hard to kind of get that out of me and retrain.”
Frankie, who rose to fame in girl group The Saturdays, has always been candid about her personal struggles.
Back in August, her Loose Women co-stars praised her after she admitted that she once felt unable to keep herself alive.
The TV star told her fellow ITV panellists at the time: “I’d been battling for a really long time with depression behind closed doors.
“It kind of came to head when we went to a gig in Dublin and we got to our hotel and I needed to be in the dark. So I just shut all the curtains and got in bed, I just didn’t want to be anywhere else.”
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