Roz Purcell has won praise for candidly opening up about her eating disorder on The Tommy Tiernan Show.
The former Miss Universe Ireland appeared on the comedian’s chat show on Saturday night, where she discussed her battle with disordered eating in her early 20s.
The Tipperary native recalled returning home to Ireland from New York when she was 24, after realising she needed to seek help.
“I was modelling around the world and I came back to Ireland. I was around the age of 24 and I knew I needed to heal from my eating disorder,” she said.
“A big part of me recovering was me definitely changing my environment. I knew I needed to stop modelling.”
Roz went on to explain: “My relationship with food was absolutely skewed. My relationship with my body was all over the place and my whole life revolved around what weight I was.”
“From binge eating to bulimia to anorexia, I went through a period of different types of eating disorders over four or five years.”
When asked to describe “the practicalities” of an eating disorder, she said: “Your whole day revolves around food and what you are going to do to burn it off.”
“I couldn’t have proper relationships. There couldn’t be anything else really going on in your life. Because everything revolved around punishing your body to be a certain size and certain weight.”
After Tommy pressed further about her disordered eating, Roz said she didn’t want to share any specifics in case any younger viewers were watching.
She replied: “I don’t know if I add any value to the conversation by discussing that, you know? There are going to be teenagers watching this who might try and emulate that.”
Tommy then said, “Isn’t that strange,” before Roz added: “That’s just how it happens. The only thing I will say is that I never thought I would get over it and I have.”
After the interview aired, viewers flocked to Twitter to praise Roz for being so open and honest.
I applaud Roz for speaking so openly about her eating disorder and the fashion industry.
Wishing her continued health and happiness ❤#tommytiernanshow
— Part Time Instagram Model (@Cre8tiveGenius2) February 11, 2023
Roz Purcell is a wonderful person. I’ve met her quite a few times. Always smiling & great company. A very positive person. I really admire her. Fair play @RozannaPurcell for being so honest about overcoming an eating disorder #tommytiernanshow
— Nuala Carey (@nualacarey25) February 11, 2023
Roz did well. Fair play to her for being so diplomatic and considerate in her answers to v difficult questions about her past #tommytiernanshow pic.twitter.com/t1MvXoUZU2
— Steph Freaney (@Stephi2612) February 11, 2023
Roz Purcell being an absolute queen and role model for the young women of Ireland 👑🤍#tommytiernanshow
— Susan Meehan (@SusanMeehan20) February 11, 2023
I love Roz Purcell. She’s so genuine, funny, and inspiring. Recovering from an eating disorder isn’t easy & her honesty tonight will help so many people #TommyTiernanShow
— @Aoifs123 (@Aoifs123) February 11, 2023
Roz’s response to Tommy asking to discuss ED behaviours 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 @RozannaPurcell #tommytiernanshow
— Sian Cullen (@siancullen5678) February 11, 2023
What an amazingly strong interview from Roz Purcell on #tommytiernanshow tonight!❤️
Inspirationally raw and well able to deal with Tommy’s harsh questions.
— Mayv (@Happygilmore223) February 11, 2023
