Frankie Bridge has opened up about how she would come home and cried herself during her time in the Saturdays while suffering with debilitating anxiety.

The singer, 36, who now appears as a Loose Women regular, discussed struggling with the mental health condition from a young age.

Frankie only realised what she was suffering from while in the girl band, where she was jooined by Rochelle Hulmes, Una Healy, Mollie King and Vanessa White.

The mother of two explained that she began to feel like ‘two different people’ and would have to switch on her public persona while out with the band.

Speaking on Olivia Attwood’s So Wrong, It’s Right podcast, Frankie spoke about suffering from anxiety since she sH๏τ to stardom at a young age in S Club Juniors.

S Club Juniors were a spin-off S Club 7, formed from thousands of young hopefuls on the programme S Club Search, to act as a support group to the original band.

Frankie Bridge has opened up about how she would come home and cried herself during her time in the Saturdays while suffering with debilitating anxiety

The singer, 36, who now appears as a Loose Women regular, discussed struggling with the mental health condition from a young age (picture 2011)

Frankie only realised what she was suffering from while in the girl band, where she was jooined by Rochelle Hulmes, Una Healy , Mollie King and Vanessa White

The band was formed after they were chosen from thousands of hopefuls on the television series S Club Search to appear as a support act for the pop band.

Frankie said: ”I didn’t go to school. We were home-schooled while we’re on the road. I get really confused and lost in the time, I think I was like 15, 15 when S Club Juniors finished and then the Saturdays started when I was 17. 

‘So, it was a little gap and I had a couple of like normal jobs in between.’

She said: ‘I think pop music and TV and that kind of thing in the public eye, no matter how successful you are, the minute you stop doing it, everyone sees you as a failure.

‘I always had stomach aches. Can you remember Pepto Bismol, the medicine, the pink horrible stuff? That would be in my bag every day because I always had a funny tummy, like nervous stomach. At bedtime I couldn’t breathe properly and things like that. So I think the anxiety was there but I didn’t know what it was.’

The singer continued: ‘I’d have blood tests all the time and things like that and obviously nothing ever came back and then it wasn’t what it is now, do you know what I mean? But I for me, the first time I realized that it was a proper issue was actually in the Saturdays. And I think for a while I’d been coming home from work, going straight to bed, not wanting dinner, just wanting to go to bed, cry, go to sleep.

‘Bed was a safe space. But I didn’t realize that that was not okay. And it wasn’t until we were on tour and we used to do meet and greets before the show and I remember gathering myself outside the door. Taking a deep breath and thinking, right, be Frankie from the Saturdays.’

The mother of two explained that she began to feel like ‘two different people’ and would have to switch on her public persona while out with the band (pictured with Olivia Attwood)

Speaking on Olivia Attwood ‘s S o Wrong, It’s Right podcast , Frankie spoke about suffering from anxiety since she sH๏τ to stardom at a young age in S Club Juniors

Frankie only realised what she was suffering from while in the girl band, where she was jooined by Rochelle Hulmes, Una Healy , Mollie King and Vanessa White

Frankie then shared that she felt as though she’d ‘become two versions of myself’ as she added: ‘This person that I thought everyone needed me to be and what the expectation was to like what I was actually feeling inside.’

Despite rising to fame quickly, the Saturdays have been on hiatus since 2014.

Frankie shared: ‘We never broke up, there was no official ending. We can pick it up if we wanted to but I don’t think there’s a reunion on the cards.’

The comments on the podcast come as Frankie opened up about her battle with depression in an emotional new video on Saturday evening.

Frankie is a huge advocate for speaking out about mental health, and often talks about her own struggles on social media.

She has been candid about her battle with the condition, which resulted in her being hospitalised in 2011 after reaching ‘rock bottom’.

But it’s proved to be tough for the TV personality , as she posted a video to her Instagram Story explaining how it has taken her the ‘whole day’ to get to the gym.

Speaking to her supportive community of followers, she admitted depression is ‘absolutely kicking my a**e.’

Frankie, who is pictured with her husband Wayne in July 2024 on their wedding anniversary, previously opened up about how he copes with her down days

Frankie opened up about her ‘boring’ battle with depression in an emotional new video on Saturday evening

She is a huge advocate for speaking out about mental health, and often talks about her own struggles on social media

‘I have finally made it down to the gym,’ Frankie said, adding: ‘It has taken me the whole day to actually get here. 

‘My depression is absolutely kicking my a**e and I am so over it.’

Frankie, who is a loving mum to sons Parker and Carter, reflected on her bad day, sharing that she has done everything she has been told to do, but still felt exhausted.

‘You know when you just feel like you do all the things you’re told to do and then it just always comes back,’ she said.

The singer looked sad, as she further added: ‘I’m just so bored of myself, it is so boring. You know, I just think everyone around me must just be so bored of it as well.’

Despite the fact she felt down, Frankie persevered and dragged herself to her home gym to exercise.

‘But I am here, I’m gonna try and do as much as I can in the gym, because I know it will make me feel better.

‘And so sitting around, eating s**t, which is what I’ve been doing all day, only makes me feel worse.’  

Frankie then went on to share her playlist, which included several Paramore songs, that she labelled: ‘Medicine.’

Frankie, who is a loving mum to two sons Parker and Carter, reflected on her bad day, sharing that she has done everything she has been told to do, but still felt exhausted

The TV personality added how she wished she had done it earlier in the day, so she could’ve faced a better outcome

Read More Frankie Bridge candidly reveals depression has ‘crept up on her’ as she thanks fans for their support

Feeling accomplished, she later wrote: ‘So pleased I did it. Finished off @catjanefitness with a little extra @bryonydeery 5 minute abs.’ 

After an intense workout, Frankie then re-appeared on her Stories to say: ‘So there is not much that a little bit of Paramore and a workout can’t fix.

‘I definitely feel a lot better and if I hadn’t come in, I’d have just berated myself even more that I had the whole day that I was able to come to the gym and I just didn’t, and I just sat around and just wallowed in self pity.’

The TV personality added how she wished she had done it earlier in the day, so she could’ve faced a better outcome.

‘It is what it is, I should just be pleased that I’ve done it,’ she told her fans, adding: ‘It’s just a little reminder we have bad days. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better one.’ 

Frankie previously detailed ‘reaching rock bottom’ and being hospitalised amid her ongoing battle with depression.

The singer gave an honest account during lockdown in an Instagram question and answer session and said how she sometimes felt she was ‘living life differently to everyone else’.

When a fan asked about when she knew she needed help, Frankie replied: ‘I was unable to cope with everyday life.

‘I was constantly crying and I felt like I was exhausted and unable to carry on as I was. Something had to change. I’d reached rock bottom.’

Frankie also opened up about how her ex-footballer husband Wayne copes with her down days and offered advise for spouses of people suffering from mental health problems.

She told her followers: ‘I think the biggest thing is to not take it personally and to remind yourself it’s an illness.

‘Also try not to feel like you have to fix something for him. Just be there and listen.

‘I’m sure Wayne gets fed up sometimes. It’s hard to be around.’

Olivia Attwood’s So Wrong, It’s Right, available from wherever you get your podcast