Steph Blackwell suffered from anorexia and binge eating as a teenager.
The ‘Great British Bake Off’ star – who made it to the final of Channel 4’s culinary competition this year – has opened up about her battle with eating disorders when she was just 17 and admitted she used it to "control" her own life.
Appearing on ITV’s ‘Lorraine’, she said: "I’d use food as a bit of a scaffold. I really controlled my life with food and things that I could do quite easily.
"When everything else felt completely out of control I used that as a way of dealing with things. It was a safety net."
Steph, now 28, admitted while she didn’t apply for the baking show to become famous, she wants to use her newfound platform to do what she can to help other people going through similar things.
She added: "I didn’t go on ‘Bake Off’ to be the next celebrity but having been given the platform I’ve been given, I’ve been so desperate to help other people out there.
"If I can help one person, then…"
Steph competed in the final of the competition – after winning Star Baker four times throughout the series – alongside Alice Fevronia and winner David Atherton, and judge Prue Leith previously insisted the show named the right champion.
She said: "You have to do right on the day, it doesn’t matter that Alice got two Star Bakers and Steph got four Star Bakers.
"On the last day, [David] just got everything right so he deserved it, he absolutely deserved it, he won it."
Great British Bake Off’s Steph Blackwell suffered with eating disorder
