Frankie Bridge has revealed that she hid her mental health struggle from her bandmates at the height of The Saturdays fame, with one of them finding her sobbing in a darkened hotel room.
The Loose Women panellist was the focus of the latest Life Before Loose segment on the ITV talk show, where the spotlight is turned on one of the ladies' career before they joined the programme.
Frankie, who is married to former England international Wayne Bridge, first found fame at the age of 12 as one of S Club Juniors who had hits including One Step Closer and Automatic High.
After their star faded, she worked in a clothes shop, before getting a life changing phone call that would lead to her joining The Saturdays.
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Together with Vanessa White, Mollie King, Una Healy and former S Club Juniors star Rochelle Wiseman, Frankie enjoyed huge chart success with the likes of Up, Issues, Just Can't Get Enough and number 1 What About Us; but Frankie told her Loose Women co-stars, that she was suffering torment behind the scenes that her bandmates didn't know about.
Recalling a trip to Dublin for a gig in 2011 when Mollie became aware of her struggles, Frankie explained: "I got to my hotel room and I don't know why, but I just wanted to be in the dark.
"I think my room must have had an adjoining door to Mollie's as she came in and found me just sobbing.
"I somehow managed to do the show but there's a picture of us that looks like she's just hugging me as a friend, when really she was holding me up."
Frankie went onto reveal that things came to a head when The Saturdays were due to fly to Iceland to shoot their My Heart Takes Over video.
By that point she'd seen a GP who recommended she needed to 'take herself out of the situation' to address her issues and get help.
Only her management knew the full extent of her problems and that she'd be going straight to hospital the minute the band landed back in the UK.
As the video flashed on the screen in front of her, Frankie said: "I look dead behind the eyes and so skinny. Luckily it was a sad song so I didn't have to jump around and pretend to be happy."
She was met by husband Wayne on her return to the UK and he took her to hospital.
Frankie, who reached the Strictly final in 2014, admitted: "I just wanted to surrender myself to anyone who could help."
Frankie's candid admissions about her struggles earned her plenty of respect on social media, with one viewer tweeting: "Wow @FrankieBridge is such a role model for young women out there. How inspirational, stunning inside and out."
A second reacted: "Wow @FrankieBridge is such a role model for young women out there. How inspirational, stunning inside and out."
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