Love Island ’s Zara McDermott has been left horrified after learning her dramatic weight-loss posts were potentially damaging to people suffering with eating disorders.
The 25-year-old extensively documented her journey on social media as she went from a size 10 to a size 6 in one year.
She even went as far as posting what she ate in a day after leaving the ITV villa and being met with a barrage of comments branding her a “fat whale” and a “unit”, spurring her to lose three stone after overhauling her diet and exercise regime.
She showed off her dramatic weight loss with before and after pictures, but critics at the time said they were triggering to those with eating disorders like anorexia.
The reality star has now admitted that the critics were right after spending time with teens suffering from eating issues who convinced her that her actions had made things worse during filming for her new BBC documentary Zara McDermott : Disordered Eating.
Zara broke down in tears when teen eating disorder sufferers told her she was “part of the problem” and has spoken about her heartbreak ahead of the new documentary airing.
“I was absolutely devastated to hear that,” she told The Sun.
Zara spend time with teenage patients at the Schoen Clinic in Birmingham during filming and she explained that the documentary was an “eye-opening” experience as the teens showed her how her posts can be perceived in the wrong way and contribute to the problem.
“That was definitely hard to hear. You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t walk away from that feeling really upset,” she said.
She was told by one of the children being treated at the clinic that her weight-loss posts were potentially damaging.
The youngster told the influencer, who has 1.7 million followers on Instagram : “You were at a healthy weight before. You looked beautiful before.
"It entrenches the idea that your main personality trait is how your body looks.”
Another added: “A lot of girls our age watch Love Island so what you put out there will go straight to them.”
Zara admitted she considered quitting social media after she spoke to the children and realised, she “never wanted to make that mistake again”.
“I didn’t know where to go from there, because I don’t want to hurt anyone and it’s so easy for anything you post to be perceived in the wrong way,” she told the publication ahead of the documentary.
“I didn’t know whether to walk away from social media entirely, but I think all I can do is learn and listen and do my best. There are so many influencers out there and I’m just a drop in the ocean, but we all have a shared duty to be responsible.”
NHS figures show that almost 10,000 children started treatment between April and December last year, while hospital admissions for eating disorders rose 84% in the last five years.
In the documentary, Zara is set to discuss how her attitude to her body changed overnight when she left the villa in 2018 and was attacked by trolls who criticised her.
She was just 21 and a healthy 10st 7lbs, but that didn’t stop evil social media users from flooding her with negative comments which made her feel “horrendous”.
Zara said she went from being an “innocent 21-year-old who never looked in the mirror or over-analysed her body” to second guessing herself and thinking she should start viewing herself in a different light because others were.
At her young age, Zara found that particularly difficult and she told how she realised the power social media has on body image and self-esteem.
“I was told so many times I was fat and there’s a finite amount of times you can hear that before you actually start to believe it,” she said.
For help and support on eating disorders contact Beat Eating Disorders on 0808 801 0677
