Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of eating disorders
Since leaving the Love Island villa last year, Jessie Wynter has used her platform to speak up about a whole host of important topics, including her experience of an eating disorder. Something she first experienced during her teenage years, the 27 year old admits that it’s taken her almost a decade to come to terms with what she’s been through as she opens up to OK!.
Now at a stage in which she has been able to process her experience, the TV personality is keen to help other people who may be going through similar, after admitting that she was once “desperate” for advice.
“It's really important for me to speak about these things because when I was in my worst periods of my eating disorder, when I was suffering the most, it was an extremely lonely and isolating period,” she tells us. “I think if I had gotten some advice from someone else, it would have been so much more comforting.”
For Jessie, the turning point came when she realised how much her eating disorder was taking away from other areas of her life. When she was missing out on social events and turned down spending time with loved ones, she knew she had to change.
“At my lowest point, my relationship with my boyfriend at the time ended. I was too depressed to go to work, and I was so obsessed with getting in more exercise that I couldn’t function with work so I quit my job,” she says.
“There was a period in my life where I was like, ‘what do I actually have?’ I'd achieved what I thought was going to be my dream body. I’d pushed my body to every single limit and all I had was myself and my small physique. I just thought, ‘what is this?’”
Having started her road to recovery eight months before heading onto Love Island Australia in 2018, the TV personality admits that the journey hasn’t been an easy process. Following her stint on Love Island UK in 2023, Jessie experienced a small relapse.
“There's a really big misconception that recovery for eating disorders is linear. I would love to say that it was a straight line and it was a fast process, but it wasn't,” she explains.
“My relapse caught me off guard. When I was in the villa, I unintentionally lost a lot of weight and when I came out I got lots of questions about how I got my physique. I felt pressure because I knew that I was going to regain the weight I’d lost. I had a bit of a fear of regaining it, so I tried to maintain that low weight.”
Though Jessie still has days where she sees herself through a “negative lens”, the Love Islander tells us that during those moments she reminds herself that her physique is not worth her mental health, and encourages anyone who’s currently experiencing an eating disorder to seek help.
“My advice is to treat yourself how you’d treat your best friends. Give yourself the love and compassion that you're capable of giving your friends. Put that back into yourself because you truly deserve it,” she states.
Meanwhile, another topic close to Jessie’s heart is spiking. While on holiday in the US last year, the social media star was rushed to hospital where she underwent tests and observations. One year on, she reveals that she still feels “terrified” when she goes out, as she not only worries about herself, but those around her too.
“I used to go out and drink and party, but now I’m a bit more cautious and won’t have as many drinks out of the house. I don't really like going out partying without my boyfriend anymore because he was actually there to help me throughout that period,” Jessie explains. “It does give me a lot of anxiety. It's not just anxiety for myself, it's for other people.”
And away from her campaigning and awareness raising work, Jessie is just as busy as she takes the leap and looks for a home with her boyfriend Will. With their relationship going from strength to strength since meeting one year ago, the pair are ready to take on their next milestone together.
“We are looking to buy together, which is really exciting but house hunting is not as easy as people make it out to be. We’re in a temporary place until we find that dream spot and location,” she beams.
“But we definitely want to live in Australia for a period. I’ve just got my three-year visa so I said to Will that I’ve gone through all the effort to get that so I’ll be staying in the UK until my visa is up.”
Jessie Wynter, Ambassador for Stamp Out Spiking @jessiereneewynter
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this story you can contact Beat via one-to-one web chat or by emailing help@beateatingdisorders.org.uk
