Springwatch’s Michaela Strachan opens up about dealing with anorexia aged 18
TV presenter Michaela Strachan has opened up about dealing with anorexia while attending musical theatre school.
The Springwatch and former Countryfile presenter became a household name in the 1990s after presenting numerous nature programmes.
Speaking in a new interview with The Times, Strachan, who is currently appearing on Dancing on Ice, explained that in her late teens, she was dealing with the breakdown of her parent’s marriage and the pressure of attending a competitive musical theatre school in London.
Strachan admitted that teachers at the performing arts school would place emphasis on body size, which became the catalyst for anorexia.
“It was textbook: my family life was falling apart, I was trying to control things in some way. You’re in a leotard all the time, looking in the mirror, and it mattered what you looked like,” she told the publication. “On the first day they told people, ‘You need to lose weight.’ I didn’t, I’ve never had to, but now I counted the calories in everything.”
When Strachan was 16, her father lost his job and Strachan stayed on at school on a bursary. However, she worked part-time jobs, including as an Avon lady and demonstrating vacuum cleaners at Harrods, to contribute to the family expenses.
Around the age of 18, Strachan was eating nothing other than a grapefruit, an apple and a slice of bread each day. As her body got weaker, her periods stopped and her hair became dry.
“Even having gone through it, I look at people now and think why would you do that to yourself?” said Strachan. “It’s bonkers. But it’s a mental illness. I’m a sensible person generally but I had an addiction to not eating. I got an endorphin rush from doing that, and that kept me going.”
Strachan admitted that an outburst from her older brother began to turn things around.
“Mum had been tiptoeing a bit: ‘Darling, would you like me to get you a little plate of something?’ But he got very upset and said, ‘If you carry on like this, you’ll die.’ I went to bed that night and thought, ‘What the hell am I doing to myself?’”
Strachan admitted that her recovery was slow, and that it took her years before she could eat more than a starter in a restaurant.
The TV presenter rose to fame on the ITV children’s Saturday morning Wide Awake Club, which she presented with Timmy Mallett for three years, before she joined dance music programme The Hitman and Her. In it, Strachan and her co-host Pete Waterman would visit different northern nightclubs.
Speaking about her time on the show, Strachan admitted that the programme’s title considered in a modern-day context is “not very PC title now”.
“But times were different,” she said.
Reflecting on recording the programme, she said: “You’re with a bunch of pissed punters in a nightclub of course you’re going to get your bum pinched, even in these woke times. You learnt to have a little bit of space between you and them.”
For anyone struggling with the issues raised in this piece, eating disorder charity Beat’s helpline is available 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677.
NCFED offers information, resources and counselling for those suffering from eating disorders, as well as their support networks. Visit eating-disorders.org.uk or call 0845 838 2040.
In the US, you can call or text the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at (800) 931-2237, or chat online.
