Little Mix star Jade Thirlwall has spoken candidly about her heartbreaking battle with anorexia. The 23-year-old opened up about overcoming the eating disorder during her teenage years in the band's new book, Little Mix: Our World.
The singer, who found fame on The X Factor in 2011, revealed that her struggle with her body image started at a young age.
"My periods stopped and things were getting out of control but I don't think I really cared about what was happening to me," she confessed. "I felt so depressed at the time that I just wanted to waste away and disappear."
Little Mix star Jade Thirlwall has spoken candidly about her heartbreaking battle with anorexia
She dramatically lost weight due to bullying, problems at home and after the loss of a close family member.
"Anorexia is a self-destructive thing and you become stubborn, so when people are trying to tell you something you get it into your head that they're against you and you're not going to listen," she added.
After Jade was admitted to hospital, the realisation of what she was doing to her body became very "real" and "serious".
"I felt so depressed at the time that I just wanted to waste away and disappear," the star explained
She explained: "They sat me down in the clinic and were quite tough at first, spelling it out, 'You're destroying your body and if you keep doing this you will die.'"
The pop star admitted she went to therapy sessions and visited the hospital on a regular basis before she fully overcame the illness by the end of secondary school.
Over the past few weeks, Jade and her bandmates have been busy promoting their new single and forthcoming fourth album. They performed Shout Out To My Ex for the first time on Sunday night's X Factor.