Zoe Hardman almost suffered kidney failure during battle with anorexia

Zoe Hardman has opened up about her battle with anorexia, revealing she almost suffered kidney failure at the height of her illness.

The Heart Radio host, 37, said the eating disorder made her "dead for a really long time" and "a shell of a person" throughout her 20s.

Speaking to Frankie Bridge on her Open Mind podcast, Zoe revealed the terrifying conversation she had with her doctor when she visited because of pain in her lower back.

She had thought she'd overdone it at the gym and pulled a muscle, but tests showed that her kidneys were starting to fail because she was so ill.

The other symptoms she suffered were her periods stopping, her bones aching and her hair starting to fall out.

Zoe said: "When I went to see the doctor, she basically told me that I was going into sort of kidney failure.

"It was my kidneys because I was just lacking in everything."

Doctors also told her that if she ever wanted to have children she needed to stop restricting her food intake.

She now has a step-daughter, Isla, seven, from her marriage to Paul Doran Jones, daughter Luna, four, and two-year-old son Kit.

Zoe said she started suffering from anorexia after finding fame on Playing It Straight.

She added: "I think coming off the back of Playing It Straight, which did really well, I then got an agent and I was sort of thrust slightly into people recognising me and I was just a bit of a naive girl.

"I think what happened was that part of my life I could control so I was going to the gym twice a day and writing down everything I was eating.

"It became apparent over the following years that's what it was but obviously in the midst of it you're in denial and you're denying it to everybody else."

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