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‘I was on Gogglebox living my best life - but behind the scenes I’d called Samaritans 20 times’

Scarlett Moffatt: ‘It was like a little voice of hope and reassurance that there was light at the end of the tunnel’
Scarlett Moffatt: ‘It was like a little voice of hope and reassurance that there was light at the end of the tunnel’

The Gogglebox star Scarlett Moffatt has told how at the peak of her fame she was so anxious she called Samaritans constantly for support.

Moffatt, 30, said she went through “a bad time” in the wake of winning I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2016 when, despite everyone around her assuming she was “living her best life”, in fact she was struggling with a crippling spell of bad mental health.

Speaking to Bryony Gordon for the latest episode of her podcast, Mad World, which you can listen to using the audio player above, Moffatt said at the time she felt she “didn’t have a right to be sad”.

“I’d just been through a wonderful time where I’d won I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and I was getting really cool roles on the TV.

“I didn’t dare tell any of my family and friends because they just thought I was so happy.”

Describing the first time she called Samaritans, Moffatt said she rang “20 times”, hanging up every time before she finally got the courage to speak to an adviser.

“I spoke to this wonderful woman and it was the first time in about two weeks I had slept properly and I was like, wow, that really helped,” she told the podcast.

“It was like a little voice of hope and reassurance that there was light at the end of the tunnel.

“I remember ringing them the next morning as soon as I woke up, which gave me the courage to speak to my family and friends and my GP.”

Moffatt, who has recently become an ambassador for Samaritans, said she didn’t know “what would have happened” if she hadn’t called them, adding that speaking to an impartial person was easier than speaking to loved ones; that way, she said, “I felt like no one was getting hurt”.

“The woman on the other end of the phone made me feel so brave. I remember calling off and just thinking, wow, actually I am quite brave for doing that because it’s hard.”

Moffatt told how she struggled to cope with trolls when she first became famous, speaking about a time when things got so bad she felt she wanted to “disappear for a while”.

“My little nan called me because there was some awful stuff in the paper and online... she rang me crying.

“I just remember pretending like, ‘oh, it's fine, don’t worry about it’. But really, I just wanted to be like, this is awful. I just want to come home.”

Now, she told the podcast, she sends the Samaritans number to anyone that sends her an abusive message. “I just think if you’re projecting that much onto the world, you’re not happy yourself.”

Samaritans’ helpline is free, and available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year: call 116 123

Listen to Scarlett Moffatt's full interview on Bryony Gordon's Mad World podcast using the player at the top of this article, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred podcast app.