Love Island's Jessie Wynter details body dysmorphia battle
Love Island's Jessie Wynter has shared details of her body dysmorphia battle.
Jessie, who appeared on both the UK and Australian version of the hit dating show, was first diagnosed with body dysmorphia at the age of 19.
Speaking with MailOnline during Eating Disorders Awareness Week, Jessie revealed she was forced to quit her past role in banking after falling into the "deepest part" of her eating disorder.
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"I had no energy, so I quit my job because I just really wasn't well enough to work and because I was suffering with an eating disorder. I did fall quite depressed and I just lost any motivation and any care for anything. My eating disorder literally consumed my whole life."
She spoke openly about how her "low self-esteem" and "undiagnosed ADHD" became contributing factors of her illness.
"I had a lot of negative feelings towards myself while going through body dysmorphia and then I found an eating disorder and being obsessive about the foods I eat and my exercise.
"It was a way to take my mind off what I was going through in other areas of my life and then unfortunately, social media started to become a big part of my life as well. I guess those added pressures all actually fed into my eating disorder."
Jessie admitted to having body image issues "long before social media" but felt comments online regarding her weight and body contributed further.
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After leaving the Love Island villa for the second time, Jessie suffered a relapse, suggesting it was due to "just being very uncomfortable and in a very stressful environment", but was adamant she wasn't going to feel ashamed of it.
After seeking professional help and having daily wellbeing meetings, Jessie praised the "amazing" Love Island production team. She also praised her "supportive" boyfriend Will Young, who she met on the show.
Jessie continues to share her experiences in order to help others: "I just really want to make sure that I am a positive role model and help people avoid the mistakes I made. I want people to understand that you're not alone in this even if you do feel alone.
"There's no such thing as having to be sick enough, or thin enough to experience this. Anyone at any size can go through it and I think we all need to be there for each other and continue to raise that awareness and break those stigmas down."
For more on body dysmorphic disorder, including information and support, please visit NHS Choices (www.nhs.uk), MIND on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk) and The Body Dysmorphic Disorder Foundation (www.bddfoundation.org).
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