James McVey: 'I'm a Celeb' took me back to eating disorder days

The Vamps star James McVey has said he looked and felt ill when he left the jungle, taking him back to his lowest point with food struggles.

Pop star McVey was a contestant in 2018’s I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, where, like many of his campmates, he lost a huge amount of weight.

But he had already spoken about his previous battles with body image and losing too much weight, and told Good Morning Britain that his experience on the ITV reality show had been a wake-up call.

He said: “Eating is crazy at the moment, I can’t stop eating.

“I actually lost the least out of everyone in (I’m a Celebrity), but I think I didn’t go in with that much to lose, not that the others did.”

McVey went on: “I think the jungle puts everything into perspective, when everything is stripped away from you, you really figure out who you are and how you tick. I think the jungle taught me a lot of things.

“But seeing those before and after pictures made me realise that actually I felt and looked ill when I came out of the jungle, and that’s how I felt and looked when I had my biggest problems with food.

“It took me back to that moment and I thought ‘this is really unhealthy’.”

McVey also spoke about the body image pressures faced by men through using social media.

He said: “A lot of men, especially my age, struggle with it. I think it’s definitely a relatively new thing with Instagram, Twitter, etc. There’s a pressure I think that a lot of men face to look a certain way.

“We do speak a lot about women and body image, which is wonderful, but I think there’s a lot to be said for men as well. I’m a strong believer that food has affected me enormously and it still does.”

McVey became close friends with I’m a Celebrity winner Harry Redknapp during their time in the jungle, and said that the football manager’s relationship with his wife Sandra was an inspiration to his own love life with girlfriend Kirstie Brittain.

He said: “Sandra and Harry are the proof that true love really is still a thing and they’re inspirational to me, I’ve seen them a couple of times since.

“If it’s a glimpse into my future then I’m very excited.”

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