Giovanna Fletcher confessed she punished herself to be skinnier.
She won over people's support because of her motherly nature and kind spirit.
And Gi, 35, admitted she was hard on herself when she was younger, "punishing my body, being skinny and making myself smaller".
I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here's queen of the castle opened up about her dysfunctional relationship with food.
Looking back, Gi said she realises she didn't need to be worried when she sees photos of her younger self.
She told Fabulous magazine: "I look back at photos now and think: “What were you worried about?” But at the time it was about punishing my body, being skinny and making myself smaller because then I’d be more acceptable."
She went on: "I had a dysfunctional relationship with food – certainly how I viewed my body and definitely how I treated it in terms of food was dysfunctional."
Gi admitted her problems stemmed back to her childhood as she recalled her unease on beach trips.
She added: "I remember being on Frinton beach when I was about nine and seeing stretch marks on my thighs. I was always the tubbier one. Compared to my brother and sister who were like sticks, I was much curvier.
The podcast star has been married to her McFly star husband Tom Fletcher.
They live at home happily with their three sons Buzz, Buddy and Max.
While she was competing on I'm A Celeb, Tom held down the fort at home with the kids.
The singer was throwing his support behind his wife the whole way on social media.
