2FM star Laura Fox: ‘I tried every fad diet and slipped into an eating disorder’

She will admit herself that she was not the front-runner coming into that event but as we have discovered in the nine-plus years since, you can never keep this powerhouse down.

On the star-studded night in Lillie’s Bordello in Dublin, she wowed judges over the course of the three rounds and ultimately became the unanimous winner, pipping a certain Maura Higgins in the process, I might add.

That win meant she would get to take part in the Miss Ireland competition a few months later but far more importantly, she became ‘our girl’ for a year.

Over 12 months, the model became part of the close-knit family here in the Sunday World as she moved from her home in Galway to Dublin and forged a career in media.

As we said our goodbyes and she (reluctantly) passed her crown on, we joked that it was really only the beginning. She had that X factor that we all believed would take her far, but even through rose-tinted glasses I never thought that just five years later she would have her own show on 2FM and would be fronting one of the country’s most popular TV shows.

Next Sunday, the star will present the 11th season of Ireland’s Fittest Family after Mairead Ronan stepped down; and it is fair to say she is ecstatic to be back on our cover after fulfilling her promise way ahead of time.

“Can you believe it?” she exclaims, as we enjoy a bite to eat in a busy Dublin restaurant after our exclusive shoot.

“I kind of feel like I have skipped so many levels of the media process. I have gone from radio, right to fronting one of the biggest shows on RTÉ. It is a complete pinch-me moment that I still haven’t completely gotten used to.”

In a rare humble moment for Laura, she admits that when she got the call initially, she thought it was for something completely different.

“I actually thought I was being asked to take part in the show. I thought they were looking for me to go on it with my family as part of some Christmas special.

“When I was chatting to them I told them about my uncle who is super fit and my boyfriend, and I asked them if I could bring a friend along too. He’s the kind of bloke who can just wake up and decide to run a marathon. So I thought he would be good but because he is not family, I wasn’t sure if they’d let him on.

“But by the time I got to sit down with the production company and chat about it, they told me that I was being considered to present it. I wanted to scream, but I kept my emotions in check.

“I did a few screen tests and soon, I was offered the job. I couldn’t tell anyone for ages so it killed me, because I am very close to my pals and family. But they understood.”

So, did she ever get the answer about her friend being let on the show? “Ha, I didn’t actually but I am so competitive I probably would have just lied and told them that he was my cousin.”

And what can we expect from the upcoming series? “It’s dramatic. I can tell you that much. And there are some dark horses in there who don’t look like they’ll do well but they end up killing it.

“Sonia O’Sullivan has joined the coaches this year too, so I’m not the only newbie on set. She is brilliant and I think she really got into it after a while. She probably took one look at Davy [Fitzgerald] and Donncha [O’Callaghan] and realised that she needed to find her voice quickly because they are loud and never stop.”

Laura is looking incredible and as we sit in a bustling eaterie on Dublin’s Millennium Walk she is regularly getting stared at by passers-by. Not that she notices at any stage as she rants to me through teary eyes about failing her driving test just a few hours earlier.

As we chat about her recent holiday to Mexico, her boyfriend Brian (or ‘B’, as he is simply known), her dog Thor, her hectic radio schedule, her voiceover work for Ireland’s Fittest Family and her unsuccessful driving test, she seems an altogether more balanced woman compared to the confident-yet-excitable girl I first met on May 22, 2014.

“I definitely have my life in check these days,” she blurts out. “My time on the catwalk and in the papers was hard on me. I am not naturally thin, as you know. I have to work really hard to keep the weight off.

“I found myself after a year as Miss Galway and then a year as Miss Sunday World doing a lot of shoots and I scrutinised myself. Much more than other people did.

“I went through every fad diet going. I’m almost embarrassed talking about it. Then I ultimately slipped into an eating disorder. I just stopped eating. If I did binge, I purged it back up.

“I never put labels on it but when I look back, I just feel such sadness and shame.

“I hid it well though. I had eating disorders for a few years but some people who were in my inner circle wouldn’t have known about it. I put on a brave face and remained positive and ‘fun’ [she emphasises with air quotes], so people were just looking at me thinking I had been in the gym or minding what I eat.

“But I wasn’t eating. That’s the problem. I can talk about it now because I am out of it and I wouldn’t want anyone to go through what I went through. But I do feel lucky that I came through it. Genuinely.

“I’m just back from 10 days in Mexico with pals. It was all-inclusive. We hit it hard,” continues the 32 year-old, with a smile. “But I don’t feel like I need to punish myself now to catch up with my preferred weight or size.

“I am wise enough now to know that I will have bad days or bad weeks and that I will make it up eventually.

“I remember my younger sister not fitting into a dress for a wedding and my initial thought was ‘Well, you have six weeks to get into it’, but she simply said ‘OK, I’ll bring it back and get a bigger size!’ It sounds so stupid saying it but that was one of those light bulb moments when I realised I was thinking about these things all wrong. So I spoke to a few people [family, friends and a therapist] and I slowly changed my mindset.

“I am so happy that I know I won’t go back to the way I was. I have an amazing group of people around me. I go to the gym and because it is with women who I adore, I actually enjoy it.

“As I said… I have to work at it but I am willing to do that. You know what? If I get into a funk and I slip a little I won’t beat myself up about it. I just get back to it and continue to love myself.”

Ireland’s Fittest Family kicks off thisSunday, October 29 on RTÉ One at 6.30pm

CREDITS… PHOTOS: GERRY MOONEY HAIR & MAKEUP: BROWNSUGAR.IE LOCATION: VISIT TRINITYCITYHOTEL.COM FOR THE BEST RATES, SPECIAL OFFERS AND A COMPLIMENTARY GLASS OF PROSECCO ON ARRIVAL WHEN YOU BOOK DIRECT