Jeff Stelling, 69, left 'heartbroken' by daughter's anorexia battle as Sky Sports legend opens up
WATCH NOW: GB News sports round-up
Jeff Stelling has revealed he was 'heartbroken' by his daughter Olivia's anorexia battle - but is now pleased she is doing well.
Stelling has been vocal on the issue and, in 2023, hit out at the government's 'lack of awareness and funding' around anorexia - while also labelling it was a 'national disgrace'.
He then later spoke to the Athletic and claimed that a friend's daughter was suffering from the eating disorder.
"Years and years ago, I thought, 'How can that be an illness?'," he said.
Jeff Stelling has revealed he was 'heartbroken' by his daughter Olivia's anorexia battle - but is now pleased she is doing well
GETTY
"I was one of these ill-informed people that felt it was just all about vanity and it wasn't a mental health issue.
"But, obviously, it's a massive mental health issue.
"And there is something inside them telling them that's where they need to be.
"That putting on weight is a fate worse than death. And I mean that quite literally.
"And I can relate to this because my friends did it as well.
"He said that, with his daughter, they would sit outside of her bedroom at night with their ears to the door to try and tell that she was still alive. Wondering if she'd be alive in the morning."
Now, according to The Sun, Stelling has revealed that he previously said a friend had been struggling - when it was, in fact, his own daughter Olivia.
The Sky Sports legend said she became 'skeletal' as she battled the disorder.
He was left 'heartbroken' after visiting and seeing his daughter in hospital, having seen other girls needing wheelchairs due to lacking the strength to walk.
Yet Olivia is now happy for Stelling to reveal it was her and is 'doing well as a student' in a heartwarming update.
Back in November, Stelling told the Radio Times that he wanted to punch people in the face who don't understand anorexia.
"I still get people saying to me, 'give them a good meal' and I feel like punching the people who say that because I know the impact that an eating disorder can have on the individual involved and the family involved," he said.
Jeff Stelling has worked tirelessly to raise awareness around anorexia
PA
"It's something I feel incredibly strongly about. My daughter was... is suffering from an eating disorder and to paint the broad picture of it, she was 34kg, she had a BMI of 13.5 and she was dying.
"If you said to her unless you eat, you will die, she’d (say) that’s fine I’d rather die than eat. I'd rather die than be fat.
"And she would see on the internet, horrific pictures of other girls who had eating disorders.
Jeff Stelling has revealed his daughter, Olivia, became 'skeletal' during her battle with anorexia
GETTY
"Their BMI was 13.5 and their target was to get to 12.5 but the task of finding help was amazingly difficult. I mean amazingly difficult.
"We found doctors didn't really know how to cope. Hospitals certainly didn't.
"When we got to the stage where we simply had to find a hospital for us because our local GP had basically said her organs can fail at any time now, we were turned away by a lot of famous establishments."
You may like
