Christopher Eccleston reveals he battled anorexia while starring on Doctor Who

Variety

Eccleston played the Ninth Doctor and the first in the 2005 Doctor Who revival series. In his memoir Love the Bones of You: My Father and the Making of Me, Eccleston writes about dealing with anorexia, body dysmorphia and suicidal thoughts. “Many times I’ve wanted to reveal that I’m a lifelong anorexic and dysmorphic,” he writes. “I never have. I always thought of it as a filthy secret, because I’m northern, because I’m male and because I’m working class.” On suffering from anorexia while playing The Doctor, Eccleston writes: "The illness is still there raging within me as the Doctor. People love the way I look in that series, but I was very ill. The reward for that illness was the part. And therein lies the perpetuation of the whole sorry situation.”