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This Morning viewers inspired by guest who dresses as a china doll

She had a tragic reason

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Ruth and Eamonn had yet another unusual guest on today’s edition of This Morning.

In a week that’s also seen them take on a pole dancing father-and-daughter duo, today they had 21-year-old Jade Smith in the studio.

Jade suffers from fibromyalgia, a long-term condition that can cause pain across the entire body.

And as an escape from the daily pain, Jade dresses like a living porcelain doll – with a wardrobe of clothes and shoes worth a small fortune.

She described it as: “Pretty much like arthritis, but it also causes fatigue, insomnia and migraines. I’ve had it since I was five years old.”

Eamonn then asked: “Your escape from fibromyalgia is dressing as a doll, when did this start?”

Jade replied that she first started when she was 11 after visiting a cosplay convention.

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She added that she dressed as a doll almost every day when she wasn’t working.

She said: “It helps me feel happy and distracts me from feeling in pain all the time.”

“People are smiling at me and it makes them feel happy. It’s a really good relief because there is no cure for fibromyalgia.

“My only hope is they find a cure eventually.

“It can take me from four to six hours to get dressed because of the make-up, and even tying bows or doing up buttons is painful.”

Referring to Jade’s enormous wardrobe of doll-like clothes and shoes, much of which she’d brought with her, Ruth asked how much she had spent on her hobby.

“Over £20,000, and about £8,000 just on shoes,” replied Jade, who added that some of her dresses were custom-made, or imported from Japan or South Korea.

Jade lives with her parents, and told Ruth that her family were supportive of her – but they wished she’d get a smaller wardrobe!

This Morning viewers took to Twitter to share their admiration for Jade finding a way of coping with her ever-present pain.

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One said: “If it helps her with her chronic pain who are we to judge? She’s not doing anyone any harm. Good on her I say.”

Another wrote: “My mum has fibromyalgia. She struggles on a daily basis. So pleased that Jade has found a way to help her cope with hers.”

Talking about the reaction she gets when out and about, Jade said: “People take photos, they say nice comments. Some shout mean comments but I get used to it.”

This Morning airs weekdays at 10.30am on ITV.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor

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