Vanessa Feltz has been open about her battle with her body and weight throughout her life and today on Loose Women, she revealed she has been dieting since she was nine
Loose Women: Vanessa Feltz reveals she’s been dieting since she was nine
Vanessa Feltz has revealed her mother put her on a diet when she was just nine years old.
The well-known radio and TV personality has never shied away from discussing her lifelong struggle with body image and weight. She recently opened up about the profound effect her early dieting experience had on her relationship with food.
In a candid conversation with the panel of Loose Women, including Charlene White, Brenda Edwards, Judi Love, and Kelle Bryan, Vanessa recounted how she was served grapefruit for dinner while the rest of her family enjoyed a full meal.
She confessed that this experience altered her perspective on eating, saying: “I was a little girl and I wasn’t a chubby girl who likes eating cake, I was a skinny kind that wasn’t very interested in food. And then I did this thing that my parents never forgave me for, which in those days you called developing. I was getting these very tiny bosoms and I was about nine.
“My mum rushed me off to the specialist and was asking what’s going on with her, and they said ‘well Mrs Feltz she’s developing’, and my grandmother said that was ridiculous as I was only nine, almost as if I had done it on purpose. I think my mum thought my waist would go in and my hips would come out, and I think she panicked I would be fat.”
Vanessa explained that growing up during the ’60s, the slim figure epitomised by model Twiggy was widely idolised, and there was also societal pressure to remain slender in hopes of finding a husband.
“So from that moment she started dieting me, I was nine. We were all having a chicken soup with vermicelli and lovely dumplings and everything and Vanessa’s having half a grapefruit. I was nine! I felt as if I was being punished but I didn’t know what I’d done,” she said.
“From that moment, my mother became my diet police which is very difficult, because if every time you raise a fork to your mouth, your mother looks horrified, what are you supposed to do. It made me hungry all the time.”
Vanessa has since clarified that her mother’s actions weren’t intentional, though they left a lasting impact on how she viewed her body throughout her life. She opened up about the challenges of dealing with public commentary, saying that people felt free to comment and write whatever they wished about her, something she found tough to handle.
Loose Women airs weekdays on ITV1 and ITVX at 12.30pm.
