Freddie Flintoff praised for 'courageous' show about bulimia battle

Thousands of people praised Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff tonight as he opened up about his bulimia battle in a 'courageous' documentary.

Freddie said he was a skinny teenager but started to gain weight into his twenties.

The media picked up on his weight and it was something that was continually commented on, on and away from the cricket pitch.

Freddie said the constant coverage was a trigger for him beginning to make himself sick, until he was doing it after every meal.

He said: "I became known as a fat cricketer, that was horrible, that's when I started doing it.

"Then things really started to happen for me playing wise, I lost three stone, I thought I'm bossing this and I was doing it all the time."

Freddie met another male bulimia sufferer Jamie and they discovered that they had a lot of similarities, their conversation affected him so much that he began to cry.

Freddie also met another family whose son Lawrence had died after years of battling bulimia, aged just 24.

Freddie said: "You think it's never going to happen to you, I don't want to be a statistic in years to come I don't want people to read that something has happened to me."

Freddie Flintoff when he was playing for England (BBC)

And viewers had nothing but praise for Freddie as they watched the heartbreaking scenes.

Linzi said: "So much respect for Freddie Flintoff @ flintoff11 for telling his own story and raising awareness about eating disorders... especially being male and the stigma surrounding it! Such a brave and courageous guy!"

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Sara said: "Hats off to # FreddieFlintoff for being so publicly honest about his struggles with bulimia and mental health. This is such an important subject to discuss."

Rhi said: "The # FreddieFlintoff documentary on # bulimia is so brave and so honest. Such an important conversation to have, especially amongst men. Respect."

Charlotte said: "On the verge of tears at @ flintoff11 - this is so raw and important."

And Will Leaf said: "Freddie Flintoff Living with Bulimia. What. A. Hero. Honest, vulnerable, humble masculinity."