Entertainment
Scarlett Moffatt turned to Samaritans ‘at her lowest point’ as she struggled with cruel social media trolling over her weight
Scarlett Moffatt has praised Samaritans for helping her out of a dark place as social media trolling became too much to cope with after her I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! win in 2016.
Some of the horrific messages she received online included people telling her to ‘go and kill yourself’ and cruel comments about her weight.
The TV presenter, 30, said sadness had ‘consumed’ her before she made the decision to reach out to the mental health charity.
She said on BBC Breakfast: ‘When I came out of the jungle I was on top of the world. I finally felt accepted.
‘With all those positive things came a lot of negativity and before long it was just consuming me. This sadness was just consuming every part of my body.
‘I would get a lot of trolling about the way that I looked, specifically about my weight, about being very slim. Then I got bigger and people didn’t like that.
‘People saying “You should just go and kill yourself, I shouldn’t have to look at you on my TV.’
She continued: ‘I just spent so much time in bed and hanging up on friends and family who were reaching out and saying: “Sorry not ignoring you, I’m just really busy.” I just wanted to have a decent night’s sleep.
‘It just felt like so long since I had a decent night’s sleep that I just thought, “I can’t do this any more”.’
Scarlett, who is now an ambassador for Samaritans, described the moment she phoned as ‘feeling like hope’.
The former Gogglebox star continued: ‘Just hearing someone saying “Hello, Samaritans, what’s wrong?”
‘I felt really sad, I spoke to Samaritans, I got help from my GP and now I am in such a good place with my little dog and my boyfriend and my friends and family.’
The TV star is now in a much better place and feels as ‘carefree’ as she did before she found fame on the Channel 4 programme.
‘I just love life. I feel like I am the old Scarlett again, the 18-year-old Scarlett that was carefree. I feel like I am that girl again.,’ she added.
She now responds to trolls by asking how they are feeling and sending them the number for Samaritans, advising that they call.
The presenter said: ‘99% of the time they apologise and say: “Yeah I will”.’
Scarlett is serving as guest entertainment editor on Thursday as part of Metro’s Mental Health Awareness Week, which will include an ‘Ask Scarlett’ section where she will answer five questions from readers on how to look after your emotional wellbeing.
Need support?
Mermaids is able to help trans people up to their 19th birthday.
Their helpline is open Monday to Friday, from 9am to 9pm: 0808 801 0400.
You can also text ‘Mermaids’ to 85258 for free 24/7 crisis support all across the UK or make use of their web chat, which is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 9pm.
Metro.co.uk MHAW Takeover
This year, to mark Mental Health Awareness Week, Metro.co.uk has invited eight well-known mental health advocates to take over our site.
With a brilliant team that includes Alex Beresford, Russell Kane, Frankie Bridge, Anton Ferdinand, Sam Thompson, Scarlett Moffatt, Katie Piper and Joe Tracini, each of our guest editors have worked closely with us to share their own stories, and also educate, support and engage with our readers.
If you need help or advice for any mental health matter, here are just some of the organisations that were vital in helping us put together our MHAW Takeover:
To contact any of the charities mentioned in the Metro.co.uk MHAW Takeover click here
