Freddie Flintoff health: Top Gear presenter’s secret health battle – the symptoms

Freddie Flintoff, 42, who is currently appearing on Top Gear on Sundays, spoke openly about his battle with bulimia on ITV daytime show Loose Women back in 2017. Speaking as part of the show’s Body Stories campaign at the time, the star revealed he used to make himself sick in the middle of cricket games after his weight gain during his sporting career left him desperately trying to slim down.

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Speaking to the Loose Women panel he said: “It got to the point where I had to lose some weight. I wasn’t hitting the targets that were set for me, and I thought, ‘I want a quick fix

“So I’d go out, I’d drink, I’d eat a kebab like the rest of the lads on the way home and then when I got back I’d make myself sick.”

The former England cricket captain admitted there became a point where he couldn’t stop control the habit of being sick after eating.

He said: “It came to the point where I’d come off playing cricket at lunchtime and I’d be straight in the toilet – I’d eat my lunch, throw up, and go and play again.”

Freddie’s wife Rachel was the first to find out about his eating disorder.

He explained: “We were in Dubai and I’d booked us into this nice restaurant. We ordered food. I got a scallop cut up three ways for the starter and then a main. After eating it I went into the toilet and threw up.

“I remember thinking to myself, I’ve just paid like £300 for these meals and I just threw it up in a toilet.

“When I finally told my wife her it was the first time I could talk about it. She helped me and supported me.

“Once I told her, that was the first part in being about to speak about it and ultimately stop doing it.”

The Top Gear presenter is now set to speak more on the matter of his eating disorder in an hour-long TV documentary, Freddie Flintoff On Bulimia on BBC One.

As well as retelling Freddie’s story, the documentary will see the sportsman meet experts and male sufferers to better understand what it means to be a man with an eating disorder.

Freddie said: “If this resonates with one person watching, or through this we can show someone that there is help out there, then this is worth doing.”

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What is bulimia?

Bulimia is an eating disorder and mental health condition.

The NHS explains: “People who have bulimia go through periods where they eat a lot of food in a very short amount of time (binge eating) and then make themselves sick, use laxatives (medication to help them poo) or do excessive exercise, or a combination of these, to try to stop themselves gaining weight.

“Men and women of any age can get bulimia, but it’s most common in young women and typically starts in the mid to late teens.”

Symptoms of bulimia

The symptoms of bulimia are listed by the health body as:

• Eating very large amounts of food in a short time, often in an out-of-control way – this is called binge eating
• Making yourself vomit, using laxatives, or doing an extreme amount of exercise after a binge to avoid putting on weight – this is called purging
• Fear of putting on weight
• Being very critical about your weight and body shape
• Mood changes – for example, feeling very tense or anxious

These symptoms aren’t always easy to spot in someone else because bulimia can make people behave very secretively.

But if you think you may have bulimia, see your GP as soon as you can.

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