‘I’m not afraid to bite back - I won’t let the trolls win’
Former TOWIE star Frankie Essex opens up about her battle with depression, and turning to good pal Lauren Goodger in her fight against online bullies
“I’m not afraid to bite back –I won’t let the trolls win” Frankie:
She hit back at body-shaming S trolls last week, sharing just one example of a cruel private message she’d been sent online that branded her “ugly” and “fat”.
And opening up to Closer, former TOWIE star Frankie Essex – who has admitted to suffering with depression and anxiety – says the abusive comments she receives can sometimes be so bad she can’t face leaving her home.
She says, “That message I shared really hit a nerve because I was having such a good day and had been feeling really confident up until I saw it. I get a lot of awful messages, but nearly everyone on TOWIE gets trolled as everyone has an opinion about you.
“It winds me up, because if I was having a down day or was on my own, I could have read that and stayed indoors all day. These trolls just make me angry.”
BODY-SHAMING
The 30 year old has publicly battled her weight over the years, yo-yoing between a size 16 and a size 8. Last year, she shed 2st – dropping from 13st to 10st 4lbs – through intense training and a healthy diet.
But in August, she revealed she’d put on a stone after a painful knee injury left her unable to exercise. Weeks later, she vowed never to wear a bikini again after a fellow holidaymaker called her “fat” while she was celebrating her 30th birthday in Spain.
Frankie tells us, “My knee injury meant I couldn’t go to the gym. I locked myself away and I did go through a bad patch; I just ate loads and put on weight. Then I went on holiday and someone called me fat while I was wearing a bikini. That was hard for me to hear.”
One person who Frankie says she can lean on for support and advice is her close pal and former TOWIE co-star Lauren Goodger, 31 – who has also endured constant online abuse over her fluctuating figure.
Frankie explains, “Lauren has been a rock for me. We help each other out and give each other advice. If I need her, she’ll drop everything and be with me all day. She gets so much hate online and I just wish people would leave her alone. She looks really well, but this kind of negative attention can bring on eating disorders.
“She’s always told me to be strong and that everything is going to be all right. Lauren and I are really similar because we both have stable relationships with our families, but mad ones with men!”
TURBULENT LOVE LIFE
Frankie, who is currently single, has spoken about her rocky romances in the past. She admitted her turbulent three-year relationship with ex-boyfriend John Lyons – who she split from in 2015 – caused her to gain weight after turning to food for a boost.
She says, “I comfort-ate with John because I was fed up with being in a bad