You Are What You Wear’s Darren Kennedy details his anorexia ordeal

Darren Kennedy has opened up about his two-year battle with an eating disorder during his teenage years as he aims to highlight men suffering with anorexia.

The You Are What You Wear star said his condition was sparked after his uncle made a throwaway comment about his appetite and a fellow student mocked his size.

Darren, 39, recalled his ‘unhappiness’ at the time as he came to terms with being gay as he said he was left terrified that someone would discover his sexuality.

He said: ‘People assume that men are fine and don’t suffer with issues with their body or want to lose weight, I still think today we’ve a long way to go until we recognise that men struggle too.’ 

Reflecting on what triggered his eating disorder, Darren told the Mirror he was about 14 at a family meal when a relative commented on how much he ate.

Darren recalled the comment which stuck with him, and said: ‘My uncle replied: ‘It’s all fun and games now, but wait until you hit 18 and it’ll catch up with you.’

Soon after a student at school commented on his size and Darren said he began obsessing over his weight and scouring his body for stretch marks and bloating.  

The TV star revealed that although he only lived off cereal and sandwiches nobody in his family really picked up on his weight at first.

But as the weight began to fall off due to his reduced diet, he began to receive comments from those close to him which he took as positive reinforcement. 

He told the publication: ‘Every time I ate I was obsessed with seeing if my stomach was bloated and I thought I had a fat face. Eating would send me into a guilt spiral – a vicious circle.’

At the age of 16, Darren began telling his friends and siblings about his sexuality but confessed he struggled with being bullied at his Christian Brothers all-boys school because he wasn’t sporty and ‘stood out for all the wrong reasons’.

Darren revealed that the eating disorder began to loosen its grip around two years later when he told his parents that he was gay.

Despite this, Darren said he still thought about food and it wasn’t until he chatted to a dietician in his 20s while working as a TV reporter that he truly began understanding healthy eating.

Earlier this week, Darren promised viewers are in for an ’emotional roller coaster’ on new BBC One series You Are What You Wear.

The fashion expert, is one of five stylists who will transform how contestants feel about themselves on the inside by reinventing their wardrobes.

Darren told MailOnline he became teary-eyed himself on the series, which is hosted by Rylan Clark, as participants poured their hearts out over their insecurities.

He said: ‘It’s an emotional roller coaster. There’s always a reason why someone has lost their identity. 

‘Some people have gone through divorces. Some people have had weight gain or loss. One guy was very petite and was wearing kids’ clothes. There’s the full gamut.

‘I did [cry], yeah. I also laughed a lot as well. There was one woman who struggled with her weight and never felt she was worth anything and lost her sense of value. 

‘That’s very deep, when you hear something like that. There were lots of moments where you would well up. But so many lovely moments as well.’