Gemma Oaten is launching a new theatre company.
The former ‘Emmerdale’ actress has co-founded Amigo Productions with businessman Richard Lamberth, and the organisation has teamed up with eating disorder charity SEED – which was co-founded by the ‘Holby City’ star’s parents Marg and Dennis Oaten – to raise money via shows and workshops for those who have struggled with such issues.
Gemma told The Stage: "I suffered with anorexia for many years.
"The performing arts were vital in helping me survive the worst struggles with eating disorders so I know first-hand how transforming an opportunity it can be to get to do something you love.
"Now feels like the right time to help other young people, from all walks of life, flourish and follow their dreams, just as I have."
Gemma – who played Rachel Breckle in ‘Emmerdale’ for four years – will run Amigo Productions from home for the time being but eventually plans to house the organisation in her hometown of Hull, and the south east of England, as well as all over the UK.
What’s more, she has set her sights on opening a theatre school in 2019 to provide affordable workshops for youngsters hoping to take the step onto drama school.
The 34-year-old star has previously opened up about her anorexia battle, revealing her weight dropped to just four and a half stone at the height of her eating disorder.
Speaking in May, she said: "If it wasn’t for my dad, I would be dead. He was right. I just wanted it all to end. Had my dad not taken me home from the psychiatric unit, I would have died. The memories of my time in hospital were very bleak and full of despair.
"I found myself in quite scary situations. I had things thrown at my head, I’d have people discussing in detail how they were abused, people cutting themselves in front of me. It was horrendous. I wasn’t showing any signs of psychosis, I was just a young girl suffering from an illness and, yes, it was a mental health illness but it is very different to somebody who is schizophrenic or who cut herself.
"It all went wrong because it focused on getting the calories down me and not dealing with the reason I was struggling with an eating disorder. In the end my parents made the decision to take me out of there when they found out what was going on."
Gemma Oaten launches theatre company
