As Jack Whitehall reveals he battled bulimia like Freddie Flintoff, male star sufferers include Ed Sheeran

Comedian Jack Whitehall has revealed that he suffered from bulimia at the beginning of his career. He spoke about it in the new Freddie Flintoff Disney + documentary, Flintoff, and said: "I was bulimic when I first started doing television, it's not something that I've ever really spoken about.

"But I remember that pressure of being on television.

"And it's not something that I've seen other men or people in the media talk about, until Fred came out and spoke about it.”

Comedian Jack Whitehall and former cricketer Freddie Flintoff became friends when they appeared on the Sky show A League of their Own. Andrew Flintoff spoke about his own battle with bulimia in the BBC documentary Freddie Flintoff: Living with Bulimia.

In the documentary, Freddie Flintoff: Living with Bulimia, Freddie said: "I've never even thought about it, but then it affects everything, doesn't it?," and added "Your joints, your bones - so maybe." After the documentary aired, Freddie Flintoff thanked fans for their support and took to X and wrote: "Thank you for the amazing response to tonight's doc, hopefully we've helped raise awareness of such an important subject."

According to the NHS, “Bulimia (bulimia nervosa) is an eating disorder and serious mental health condition. It can affect anyone and treatment may take time, but you can recover from it.”

Other stars who have suffered from bulimia over the years include Sir Elton John, Ed Sheeran and John Prescott. Ed Sheeran revealed to Rolling Stone magazine that “I was in the One Direction wave, and I’m like, ‘Well, why don’t I have a six pack?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, because you love kebabs and drink beer.’ Then you do songs with Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes. All these people have fantastic figures. And I was always like, ‘Well, why am I so … fat?’ ”

Ed Sheeran went on to say that “So I found myself doing what Elton [John] talks about in his book — gorging, and then it would come up again.” (John put it this way in his autobiography: “I had developed bulimia.”) “There’s certain things that, as a man talking about them, I feel mad uncomfortable. I know people are going to see it a type of way, but it’s good to be honest about them. Because so many people do the same thing and hide it as well.”

Ed Sheeran also added that “I’m a real binge eater. I’m a binge-everything. But I’m now more of a binge exerciser, and a binge dad. And work, obviously.”

In his autobiography, the late Lord Prescott revealed his battle with bulimia started in the 1980s and told The Sunday Times that “People normally associate it with young women — anorexic girls, models trying to keep their weight down, or women in stressful situations, like Princess Diana.”

When he was sent for specialist help, Lord Prescott wrote: “I turned up and found his waiting room full of young women. I was the only man there. I felt a right twerp.”

During an interview with Larry King in 2008, Sir Elton John spoke about going into rehab and said: “I went to a hospital in Chicago because, at that time, I was bulimic and the food issue amongst men was just only starting. I mean, so there was no facility in North America that would take drugs, alcohol and food addiction, except this one facility in Chicago at Parkside Lutheran Hospital.”