Former Emmerdale star Gemma Oaten has spoken of the sadness and devastation eating disorders can cause and voiced fears the ‘heroin chic’ trend from the 90s is returning
Victoria Beckham has revealed she has faced a lifelong struggle with an eating disorder after being body shamed at theatre school when she was a teen.
The Spice Girl turned fashion designer will open up about her ordeal for the first time in her new Netflix documentary, saying she had controlled her weight in an “incredibly unhealthy way”.
“I have been everything from porky posh to skinny posh, I mean, it’s been a lot and that’s hard,” said the 51-year-old star of being judged for her size over the years.
“I never spoke about it publicly, it really affects you. When you’re told constantly you’re not good enough. And I suppose that’s been with me my whole life.”
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Former Emmerdale actress Gemma Oaten knows first hand the devastating impact of an eating disorder, having suffered with anorexia for 13 years. The star was hospitalised 21 times from the age of 12 to 19 and heartbreakingly told The Times last year: “I could be sitting here today with a husband and a child. I might not have had a heart attack at 18.”
Gemma, 41, grew up in the ’90s, a time when the term “heroin chic” became popular, with extremely thin fashion models placed on a dangerous pedestal. Like Victoria, she says, “My eating disorder stemmed from bullying.
“I couldn’t control what people were saying but I felt my weight was something I could control. I began my eating disorder journey at ten years old in 1994 and I remember the Spice Girls coming out around 1996.
“It’s just so ironic and sad that these were powerful, go-getting women who me and many other girls around the world looked up to and aspired to be and yet I think three of them – Mel C has talked openly about an eating disorder, Geri has and now Victoria Beckham, it’s just really sad to think that those people I looked up to were struggling as well. It just goes to show that nobody knows the hidden battles between the success and the glamour and the glitz.”
The star told how Victoria’s description of a need for control resonated deeply. “I think it’s really brave that Victoria has spoken out,” said Gemma, who has been appeared in Doctors and Coronation Street.
“She’s very eloquent in saying about how an eating disorder is about control, which is a really important thing to get across in the narrative.
“A lot of people misconstrue that an eating disorder is brought about by seeing images of thin people and magazines and social media. Yes, there is an element of that but ultimately it’s about losing control over something and feeling like the eating disorder is a way of getting control back.”
“Like she says in the article, people were just having opinions of her and she was losing sense of who she was and couldn’t control the narrative,” she added.
“The eating disorder tricks you into believing that there is something you can control but the ironic thing is that an eating disorder will make you lose control of everything. It’s such a sad and devastating mental health illness.”
Gemma is now the CEO of SEED, a charity service that provides support to people with eating disorders. Worryingly, she feels we are going backwards when it comes to the pressure women face to be skinny. “There’s a lot around pressure to be skinny again at the moment which is really scary,” she said.
“I was talking about it to my friend, with the Montjaro jabs. In the ’90s and ’00s we were in our Kate Moss and Jodie Kidd era, ‘heroin chic’ was on the catwalk. It was this big narrative around how skinny and thin was beautiful.
“Then things progressed with body positivity and seeing larger models and people in our social streams and on television. All of a sudden I feel like the narrative is going back to: thin is how society is meant to be, especially for women.
