Strictly star Dianne Buswell breaks down over devastating health condition

05 March 2024 , 12:27

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Strictly star Dianne Buswell breaks down over devastating health condition

Strictly Come Dancing star Dianne Buswell has bravely shared her battle with an eating disorder that made her so terrified that she didn't want to dance anymore.

Appearing on Tuesday's instalment of This Morning, Dianne, 34, told the hosts Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle that fretting about and obsessing over food and calories took over her entire life. "You wake up in the morning, and the first thing you think of is, what am I going to eat? How many calories are going to be in that? How much do I need to exercise to burn off those calories?," she said.

Dianne confessed that it was a constant worry in her head that wouldn't go away. She explained: "It literally is like a planned thing in your mind that doesn't go away. And that's when you start to go, 'Oh, this is a problem because I'm not thinking of anything else."

During the eye-opening segment, pictures also showed Dianne when she was drastically underweight due to her eating disorder. The Strictly Come Dancing favourite added that being a dancer from a young age made things much more difficult for her as she felt pressure to be perfect and a low weight.

Strictly's Dianne Buswell reveals she almost died amid devastating health condition

Dianne admitted that she is certain the life-altering problem started when she was little girl, dancing and comparing herself other girls her age. "I think it comes from when I was quite a young girl," she said.

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"And obviously growing up in the dance world, you're taught to look a certain way and you see all these other beautiful girls dancing, and you kind of want to look like that and want to be winning like they are. And they look a certain way so I feel like I should look that way. So I think it was it was something from a really young age."

Dianne continued to share her struggle as she explained: "I also went on to dance and dance companies and one of those things was like a weekly weigh-in, and I can't tell you how terrifying that was. And how much that the whole week really was terrifying when you knew that away it was coming up."

"It was quite intense and it got to a point where I didn't want to dance anymore. I was afraid to go on stage. I felt physically ill at the thought that my body - I don't even know if I can get through an hour-long show. I was known as like the Energizer bunny. I think that's what I was cast as you know, she has so much energy she's always full of life."

Dianne added: "And that really went away from me and I had nothing to give on the dance floor and that really terrified me. I just couldn't do it. anymore," she recalled.

When asked how she is currently managing her condition, Dianne admitted: "I just kept telling myself you can do it. The breaking point was when my body physically couldn't do it anymore and that's when I knew I had to go and get help and talk to people."

Today, Dianne is fully recovered and remains a sparkling fan-favourite in Strictly Come Dancing since 2017. She has generously chosen to share her experience in the book, 'Eating Disorders Don't Discriminate' with the intention to lend a hand to others facing similar struggles.

For help and support on eating disorders contact Beat Eating Disorders on 0808 801 0677.

Susan Knox