Lizzie Cundy: “I’ll always battle anorexia, but I’ve learned to love my body”
TV presenter Lizzie Cundy opens up to Closer about loving her figure after a 40-year struggle
She’s become infamous for S flaunting her incredible body in an array of risqué outfits – but despite embracing her curves at 48, Lizzie Cundy recently revealed that she secretly battled anorexia at the age of 14.
At her lowest point, Lizzie admits that she dropped to 5st and her periods stopped – but now she says she’s determined to put her body demons to rest as she confidently poses naked for Closer.
Lizzie – who was spotted partying in LA with Strictly judge Bruno Tonioli, 61, last week – says, “People might see me in my outfits and think it’s me being vain or shallow. I often get asked how I have the courage to wear some of the things I do. But it’s a way of celebrating myself and proving just how far I’ve come.
OUT OF CONTROL
“I nearly killed myself when I was a teenager, so now I’m proud of my body and the fact that I’ve survived after abusing it for years. I get judged a lot for the way I look, but I can laugh at criticism. I like what I see when I look in the mirror now.”
Despite beating the disorder in her teens, Lizzie admits the anorexia reared its ugly head again when her 18-year marriage to former Chelsea footballer Jason Cundy – who is the father of her sons, Josh, now 22, and James, 17 – collapsed in 2012 after she discovered he was having an affair. She said, “Everything in my life felt like it was spinning out of control again. I didn’t even realise I’d stopped eating until I saw a photo of myself in the papers with the caption ‘scarily thin’. I was falling back into dangerous old habits and I knew I had to put a stop to it. I have two wonderful boys and I didn’t want to put them through the same stress I’d put my family and friends through all those years ago. I snapped out of it immediately and started eating regular meals again.” Opening up to Closer, the mum-of-two explains that the eating disorder was first triggered by her unhappiness at school. She says, “I went to a strict boarding school where the nuns would measure your skirts and, if they were too short, you’d be sent home. I wanted to go to drama school to be an actress. I got into trouble a lot and, although I laughed it off, inside I was so unhappy. I was lonely at home, too, because my parents were away a lot. They were big jet-setters. “My life felt out of control, so I started to become obsessed with what I ate. I had to know the calorie content of everything. I would starve myself for a whole day and survive on a few grapes in the evening. I had friends who would eat my lunch for me and I’d hide plates of food under my bed at home or put food in a napkin and hide it under the table at dinner.”
She adds, “I dropped to just 5st and I was tiny. My periods stopped and I just looked awful. My mum was beside herself with worry and people would comment on how my bones stuck out.
SEEKING HELP
“One of the nuns at my school told me I was starving myself to death and stood over me at lunch and forced me to eat. It was horrible. I knew I was worrying people, but I had loads of energy and became a master of convincing people I was fine. I just kept smiling and telling people everything was OK.”
But single Lizzie, who was recently linked to actor Gerard Butler and politician Nigel Farage, says it wasn’t until a boy she fancied poked fun at her frail frame that she finally decided to seek help.
‘I nearly killed myself as a teenager’
She explains, “I’d liked this boy for ages and he liked me. But one day he said, ‘Lizzie, your legs look like sticks in a bucket. You’re so lovely, but you look so ill.’ I went home and looked in the mirror and, for the first time, really saw myself. My face looked haunted, my eyes were wide and my cheeks were sucked in. I looked awful. I ran downstairs and told my mum I needed a milkshake.”
HAPPY ENDING
She adds, “I don’t know why his comment resonated with me so much, but it made me realise what I’d been doing to my body. I was killing myself. I went to a doctor to get advice and he put me on these buildup drinks and a special diet plan to regain the weight healthily. Within a year I was a normal weight and got a modelling contract. I had a happy ending, but the disorder will always be with me. I have to work hard to ensure I don’t let it take over again. It nearly killed me at 14, but I won’t let it beat me.”