Scarlett Moffatt discussed her experience with tics and Tourette's ahead of her new documentary on the topic.
The Gogglebox star joined This Morning to discuss her upcoming documentary - Britain's Tourette's Mystery: Scarlett Moffatt Investigates - which takes a personal look at those suffering from tics and Tourette's syndrome. Scarlett said the show is near to her heart as she too experienced extreme ticks from a young age and have re-emerged since lockdown.
She said: "I had ticks when I was younger so when I was 11 I had facial tics, especially with my eyes then they just went on their own. I remember how lonely I felt at the time and during lockdown, I kept getting articles saying the rise in tics in teenagers was going crazy.
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"I thought 'Why is no one talking about this?' Some neurologists say tics and Tourette's are from anxiety and stress and, in lockdown, we focused on the elderly so much we forgot about young people but I think it's really affected them."
Dermot asked Scarlett if there was anything to sufferers can do to control their tics but Scarlett admitted, at least for her, it was a very difficult experience. She said: "You can suppress them, that's what I was doing at school, but when I got home they'd all come out all at once."
During the documentary, Scarlett meets people with a range of intensities and notes she needed a thick skin to be able to get through the show. She joked there would be times she had to question the interviewees on whether or not they couldn't control their comments or if they were having a "sly dig."
The most difficult part of the process was having to discuss heavy topics with people, something Scarlett admitted she wasn't used to. She said: "I've got a newfound respect for Louis Theroux but I'm my own person and it was hard to know who I was an investigator. It was difficult asking difficult questions but you have to."
She added: "I started really worrying if I was susceptible [to picking the tics up again] but what I thought was 'some of these people have four million followers but not all their followers have tics' but if you're with your friends you do pick up certain things for yourself."
Scarlett wrapped up the interview by suggesting she would love to continue documentary-making on topics close to her heart as she felt "fulfilled" from it. She also joked she'd be keen to do one on ghosts and the afterlife.
Britain's Tourette's Mystery: Scarlett Moffatt Investigates airs tonight at 10 pm on Channel 4.
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