Angela Scanlon discussed her 15-year battle with eating disorders during an interview on Loose Women on Tuesday. 

The Irish television presenter, 40, said of her anorexia and bulimia: 'It isn’t necessarily one of the other. They go in cycles, it can sometimes feel really bleak.'

She added: 'From my late teens or early 20s, for 15 years, I was in a bad place. For me, the turning point was a friend of mine, who was also suffering, saying we are just going to have the illnesses forever.

'And to her it felt like a comforting, a support in numbers. But for me, I really kicked against that notion of having to stay in that very small space for a long time.'

It was Angela's first-ever appearance on the show, and she later took to Instagram to joke that she had popped her 'Loose Women cherry'. 

TV presenter, Angela Scanlon, 40, discussed her 15-year battle with eating disorders, including anorexia and bulimia during an interview on Loose Women on Tuesday

Angela pictured on Channel 4's Big Breakfast with Ronan Keating in the late 90s, when she predicts her illness began 

The star revealed: 'From my late teens or early 20s, and for 15 years, I was in a bad place' (pictured with panellist Denise Welch)

In 2023, Angela revealed to Weekend Magazine she used to feel a bit like a swan – elegant on the surface while paddling furiously underneath. 

She appeared to have it all, with a burgeoning career as one of the UK's most in-demand broadcasters thanks to appearances on The One Show and as host of BBC2's interiors hit Your Home Made Perfect, as well as her own chat show in Ireland and a popular podcast.

But beneath the facade Angela was racked by insecurity. She had an eating disorder that began in her teens , and by the age of 20 she was often surviving on black coffee and tinned pineapple. 

Her anorexia and bulimia were later replaced with workaholism.

'I think an eating disorder is about trying to control things, when everything feels out of your power,' she said. 

'It took me much longer to recognise I'd replaced the eating disorder with work, as I believed I'd sorted myself out.

'I'd built a career and a life I enjoyed. But it wasn't until later I realised that when I slowed down, the problems were still the same. I think anyone with an addiction will recognise it's easy to swap one for another.'

The result was a feeling of emptiness that Angela explores in her deeply personal recent book Joyrider, in which she describes not only her troubles but also what helped save her – tapping into her natural resources of joy and gratitude for the small positives in life. 

It was Angela's first-ever appearance on the show, and she later took to Instagram to joke that she had popped her 'Loose Women cherry'

This is the 'joyriding' part of the book, referring to a conscious swerve into a 'sweeter lane'.

Although she was nervous about revealing her vulnerabilities, it's been an empowering experience that's helped others too. 'Writing Joyrider was freeing,' she says. 

'There was something cathartic about it. People think we can only talk about things when we're ready, but there's something so powerful about talking about it when you're still in the process because healing is happening all the time.'

Angela channelled her experiences into a gratitude-focused podcast called Thanks A Million, now in its sixth series. 

But it was when she became a mother to Ruby, now five, that Angela felt her recovery really began. 

'I recognised something had to change. My motivation was my daughter. I didn't want her to pick up on these habits I had, see them as normal and replicate them.'

Angela returned to work just 12 weeks after having Ruby, but when she had Marnie, who's now two years old, she recognised her need for more maternity leave. 

So, with the exception of her book release in May 2022, she didn't work again until she started filming the latest series of Your Home Made Perfect. 

'For my own mental health I was very determined to do this differently, because I wasn't chasing myself back into work,' she said.

Angela has been helping architects and families create their perfect home in BBC Two's Your Home Made Perfect since 2019, and began spin-off Your Garden Made Perfect in 2021

The star's only other bit of television work since 2021 is Strictly Come Dancing, in which she appeared as a contestant in 2023 (pictured with professional partner Carlos Gu)

Also in 2021, Angela began her own show on RTÉ One, Ask Me Anything.

Angela brings her unique mix of enthusiasm and affectionate ribbing to the show featuring unexpected revelations from celebrity guests, as they all agree to be asked anything.

The star's only other bit of television work since 2021 is Strictly Come Dancing, in which she appeared as a contestant in 2023.

Angela was partnered with Carlos Gu and was the ninth celebrity eliminated, narrowly missing out on a place in the final.