Sophie Turner is opening up about being bullied over her eating disorder when she was younger.
“Being a young girl, especially one growing up in the spotlight, you really judge yourself,” the Emmy winner said in an interview for British Vogue’s June cover story.
The Game Of Thrones actor star recalled being slammed by online trolls as a teen anytime her weight would fluctuate, adding that even after she recovered from an eating disorder, the negativity didn’t end.
“When you’re bulimic, your face tends to bloat. So when I finally did get better in my early 20s, my face went back to normal,” Sophie explained.
“Then, suddenly, all the comments were about whether I’d had buccal fat removal or not. So yeah, you can never win.”
Sophie – who has been previously candid about using medication and therapy to treat her mental health issues – admitted she takes social media breaks so her eating disorder doesn’t “flare up” when she’s stressed.
“I know when I’m in a bad headspace that the eating thing will always flare up,” she said.
“But now I regulate it by sitting in the discomfort and just getting used to that feeling of being full. It’s all exposure therapy. I think life is exposure therapy.”
The mum-of-two went on to share that becoming a mother helped transform her relationship with her body. Sophie shares young daughters Willa and Delphine with estranged husband Joe Jonas.
“To be honest, having kids was the best thing for my relationship to my body,” she recalled.
“I remember after I had my baby, my therapist asked me how I felt in my body. And of course I was like, ‘Well, there’s milk leaking from my breasts and I’ve been bleeding for a month’.
“Then she reminded me how amazing it is that our bodies can do this and how important it is to put all the nutrients in your body so that it can do that. I mean, it sounds so simple, but I never thought of my body in that way before.”
Sophie also told the magazine about another triggering experience: her highly publicised divorce from her husband, to whom she was married for four years.
Calling the days after the messy split went public the “worst few days of my life,” she praised the fans who came to her rescue during the difficult time.
“If something like this had happened to me 10 years ago I don’t think I would have had the same support,” she said.
“I just feel very lucky to be alive in a time when people are open-minded. Thank fuck for Gen Z.”
Help and support:
- Beat, Adult Helpline: 0808 801 0677 and Youthline: 0808 801 0711 or email help@beateatingdisorders.org.uk (adults) fyp@beateatingdisorders.org.uk (youth support)
Samaritans, open 24 hours a day, on 116 123
Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393
Read Sophie Turner’s full interview in the June issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands from Tuesday 21 May.
