Lorraine Kelly: Gutsy Gail Porter deserves to be happy after years of battling her demons

GAIL PORTER is a very brave woman.

She has had some tough obstacles thrown in her way over the years, and yet somehow she picks herself up, dusts herself down and soldiers on.

The 45-year-old was one of the most beautiful young girls I have ever met when she appeared on TV back in the 90s.

Gail was a doe-eyed stunner, with an incredible figure, who looked as though she was having the time  of her life and had the world at her feet.

In 1999, a giant image of her was infamously beamed on to the Houses of Parliament to promote one of the so-called “lads’ mags” that flourished back then, and Gail became the talk of the town.

I remember interviewing this cheeky, funny, sassy young girl at the time and thinking how confident and happy she seemed.

Well, it turns out that Gail was doing a brilliant job of hiding her insecurities and fragility.

Even at the height of her fame, she had low self-esteem and suffered from anorexia and depression.

Gail said this week that a lot of her problems came from the fact she felt her chest was just too big.

She believes this is what caused her anorexia and could have played a part in triggering her hair loss. During her twenties, Gail lived on a starvation diet of cucumber and grapes – and it
was all in an effort to reduce her bra size.

Given her petite 5ft 2in body, she also suffered from serious back trouble. The outside world had no idea how much she was struggling.

What should have been a long and successful career collapsed when Gail became seriously mentally ill.

She was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was sectioned under the Mental Health Act in 2011 following a breakdown.

Life has not been easy for her since.

I do admire Gail for never giving up and continuing to battle her way back to health. She is a devoted mum to daughter Honey, who is now a teenager.

The former Fully Booked and Big Breakfast presenter has been very open and honest about all of her problems, mainly  in a bid to help other people who are coping with mental health issues. She finally decided to go under the knife and have a boob reduction operation this year.

Showing that famous Scottish sense of humour, she said that when she lost her hair she  looked like “a big baby”.

She is clearly a much happier person after the procedure when  surgeons removed a massive eight pounds of tissue. Her only regret is that she didn’t have the operation  20 years ago.

It’s good to see her looking so well and regaining her confidence.

I am very fond of Gail and I wish her all the very best. She deserves to be happy after all of her problems over the years.

Gail will tell her story in the new series of Celebrity Botched Bodies on Channel 5 at 10pm on Thursday.

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