Late Late Show viewers praise 'powerful' Angela Scanlon as she opens up about anorexia battle

It was a jam packed programme tonight as host Patrick Kielty was joined by Joe Canning, Dara O Brian, Angela Scanlon and more in the RTE Late Late Show studio

RTE viewers have praised Angela Scanlon as she opened up about her own experience suffering with anorexia.

The broadcaster is narrating a documentary about the subject called Anorexia: my Family and Me, which will be airing on RTE next week.

Having suffered with the illness for years herself, she had some powerful words for anyone out there going through it.

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"I struggled with anorexia and bulimia for 15 years," she told Late Late Show presenter Patrick Kielty. "For me, it felt like a really important thing to do because I think it hasn't been spoken about very openly in very many forms. Certainly when I was in the thick of it, I don't remember switching on the telly and ever feeling like there was a story that I could relate to or an experience depicted that was similar to what i was going through.".

Angela spoke about her struggle with anorexia and bulimia for the first time in her book, and said that she hadn't opened up about it until then because she was nervous.

"Truthfully, I didn't know whether talking about it would bring it back or bring unwanted attention or scrutiny," she said. "Maybe, if I'm honest I didn't feel strong enough to talk about it because you want a certain level of distance between it so that you can speak about it without being highly emotional or triggered."

Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychological illnesses, and there is frighteningly little support in Ireland for anyone suffering with an eating disorder.

"That's all extremely bleak, on the one hand," Angela said. "But I got over it, and there is so much hope. When I was in the middle of it, people said oh, you just have to deal with it, it's something you'll live with forever. I found that so infuriating at the time and it kind of became a turning point for me. I guess I would love for anyone sitting at home in the depths of it, in a lonely horrible place, to know that it's messy and it's complicated and it takes a long time, but that actually you can come out the other end."

Viewers were blown away by her honesty in highlighting such an important issue.

"Not an easy topic to talk about, but fair play to @angelascanlon on being incredibly honest about her experience with an eating disorder. @PatricKielty dealt with it very sensitively," wrote one viewer.

Another praised: "Well done Angela Scanlon."

"Very powerful contribution by @angelascanlon on the lack of services for people with eating disorders and yet she gives others hope that people can come out the other end. She narrates the documentary Anorexia, my family and me on RTE on Monday," wrote a third.

For mental health support, contact the Samaritans on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.

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