Soon to be lawyer, Stacey Hampton, may appear to have the perfect life on paper, but behind closed doors and like so many others, the Married At First Sight star is battling an insidious eating disorder.
WATCH: Stacey opens up about battling with an eating disorder.
Opening up about her decade long fight with anorexia, the mum-of-two says she developed the disorder during high school as a way to cope with being constantly teased and ridiculed for her slender figure.
And while her weight “still goes up and down” and has varied throughout the years, Stacey says she’s finding it difficult to cope with the constant skinny shaming and backlash she’s received since making her reality TV debut.
“I have always had issues with eating and I have always been very skinny,” the bubbly blonde told Hit 107’s Bec and Cosi. “A lot of people say I don’t eat and I’m too skinny and that’s the same as calling someone fat. It’s so rude.”
“I am on medication to help me eat and get my appetite back. It’s due to stress and trauma I’ve been through,” said Stacey who revealed during her honeymoon that her brother passed away on the same day she was due to give birth to her first child.
“I am in the process of gaining weight back because I’m on the scale of anorexic at the moment.”
She went on to urge women, in particular, to seek help and treatment if they’re struggling with their body image and unhelpful thoughts, saying: “There are a lot of women out there like this and I hope that they can get help as well as see a doctor.”
While this is the first time Stacey has opened up about her eating disorder, she’s poured her heart last week when she told her husband Michael and the rest of the nation that she lost her brother unexpectedly a few years ago.
“The fact that I was able to be vulnerable about my past with him… I felt like I was ready to be vulnerable and establish a physical connection,” she said after revealing discussing the extremely difficult time with the entrepreneur.
“I felt like it was the right timing, too. Just because, after everything we’ve gone through, I opened up a bit, we had the argument, I felt like that brought us closer, we got through that… so I felt like it was good timing.”
“I’m really starting to see this other side, a softer side,” she had shared the previous day.
“It shows that he’s loving and caring. I feel a lot more comfortable now getting more intimate with him.”
Funnily enough, they did take their relationship to the next level soon after, revealing she and Michael consummated their marriage during their tumultuous honeymoon in Fiji!!
“Yeah, we slept together,” Michael said when asked whether or not they had done the deed on their Fijian vacation, having a little giggle afterwards.
“It’s just so un-awkward, this morning after last night,” 28-year-old Michael said sleepily as he and Stace lay in bed together.
“It feels so real; it was gorgeous.”
“It was lovely,” Stacey laughed, with Michael adding: “It was fun!”
If you need help with an eating disorder, please call Butterfly’s National Helpline on 1800 334 673 or e-mail [email protected]
If you’re struggling with suicidal thoughts or a mental health issue, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
