The following article contains extended discussion about eating disorders.
Former Home and Away star Tammin Sursok has shared details of her eating disorder, which started when she joined the show.
Sursok appeared on The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show podcast and explained that she weighed 42kg and lost two teeth and her stomach lining when she was just 24 years old.
“I struggle with self-worth. I’ve always struggled with self-worth,” she told host Jessica Rowe. Sursok described how being on Home and Away made her feel more insecure about her body, explaining that she was bullied as an overweight child.
Channel 5
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“I think it was just the business of, like, I looked a certain way. I was overweight, and people said I was unworthy, unattractive. Boys would come up and, like, throw a rock at me,” she recalled.
After eating well and exercising to “healthily” lose weight, Sursok landed the role of Dani Sutherland on Home and Away. “Because I was so afraid to lose [the role], after six months, I just stopped eating. And I put my fingers down my throat.”
Tammin Sursok//Instagram
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“I mean, it was a different time then, but how did they not know? How did they not say anything?” Sursok added, referring to the Home and Away team.
Surok revealed that her eating disorder continued from the ages of 17 to 24, but she eventually stopped after she met her husband.
“It wasn’t a moment of rock bottom, it was years of rock bottom, and I was just like ‘I’m done,'” said the actor who played Dani Sutherland on the soap.
Home and Away airs weekdays at 1.45pm on Channel 5, with repeat screenings at 6pm on 5STAR and first look screenings at 6.30pm on 5STAR. Selected classic episodes are available via Prime Video in the UK.
In Australia, the show airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7pm on Channel 7 and streams on 7Plus.
Read more Home and Away spoilers on our dedicated homepage
Beat is a charity which raises awareness and understanding of eating disorders, and supports those affected by them. It has a one-to-one secure messaging service, and details of its phone helplines can be found here.
