Jack Fincham has revealed he has been secretly battling bulimia for two decades in a heartbreaking confession.

The former Love Island star, 34, has opened up on his struggles with the eating disorder and his mental health in a new interview.

Jack said he developed the eating disorder at the age of 14 when he started out as a boxer due to the pressures of getting down to his fighting weight. 

He revealed he now needs ‘daily medication’ because of the damage his decades-long battle with bulimia has done to his body.

‘I have been a bulimic for 19 years, bingeing on food and then being sick,’ he told The Sun.

‘I’m in agony without daily medication, I could be on them for ever, I don’t know.’ 

Jack Fincham has revealed he has been secretly battling bulimia for two decades in a heartbreaking confession

Bulimia (bulimia nervosa) is an eating disorder and a serious mental health condition characterised by struggles with binge-eating and purging.  

Jack candidly revealed how he would binge eat and then make himself sick in a vicious cycle whenever he felt depressed or was struggling with his mental health.

He said things got worse when he became a pro boxer last year and he resorted to using slimming jabs to try and get down to his fighting weight before entering the ring.

Jack told how he would buy a McDonald’s breakfast, 12 bags of crisps, many bags of fizzy sweets and two large Domino’s pizzas and side dishes, before bingeing on them all.

Jack admitted it would make him feel ‘ashamed’ and for years he didn’t recognise that he had a ‘problem’ before it started to have an impact on his health.

‘It caught up with me because I started to get really bad reflux, I was in agony,’ he explained, adding that he confided in a doctor and is now taking tablets to treat the reflux.

His initial struggles with an eating disorder were connected with wanting to do well in boxing, as well as the trauma of discovering his father wasn’t his biological parent.

Jack’s mother Samantha married her partner Fraser McManus in 2006, who Jack considers to be his dad as he has no contact with his biological father.

Jack said he developed the eating disorder at aged 14 when he started out as a boxer due to the pressures of getting down to fighting weight (pictured at a match with ex Chloe Brockett)

He confessed the shock revelation ‘screwed with his head’ and he would often not eat or drink all day and could lose as much as 1.5kg in one day in his teenage years.

While his struggles started out as a way of trying to manage his weight in the boxing ring, it became a form of punishment and he would binge-eat when he was depressed. 

Jack, who also has ADHD, told how he would often binge-eat after going on a drugs bender. He has previously detailed his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction and gambling.

In February, Jack revealed he blew £1million on gambling as he battled drink and drug addictions for 14 years.

During an interview on This Morning, he laid everything bare as he candidly admitted would often put himself in danger by driving recklessly.

Jack, who has been sober since Christmas Day, said: ‘It was awful. It always started out like you just have a drink then you end up taking other drugs, and then because you’ve taken so many of those I’d take others to go to sleep.

‘It’s a cycle, you’re alright for a few days. That’s why I always thought it wasn’t a problem because I’d have a few days off in between. But I then discovered another drug, an anti-anxiety drug and I became physically addicted to it and went to rehab.

‘My family and my relationship with Chloe [Brockett], they are all so supportive but how many more times can they say it’s okay now we’ll get through this? It got to the point where there was nothing to salvage.’

He revealed he now needs ‘daily medication’ because of the damage his decades-long battle with bulimia has done to his body

His initial struggles with an eating disorder were connected with wanting to do well in boxing, as well as the trauma of discovering his father wasn’t his biological parent

WHAT IS BULIMIA? 

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.

The main signs of bulimia are:

Purging may include making yourself sick (vomiting), taking laxative or diuretic medicines, avoiding eating for long periods of time, exercising excessively, or a combination of these.

The main treatments are: 

Talking therapies, medicines (such as antidepressants, if you have another mental health condition) and support from a nutrition specialist 

Source: NHS

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‘I would be drinking and I wouldn’t be in my right mind so I convinced myself, I’ll go and win £100,000 today on Blackjack today – it was never going to happen,’ he continued.

‘This was only ever when I was intoxicated. I was doing £40,000 days, £5,000 hands on Blackjack. Who did I think I was?’

He revealed: ‘I’ve wasted very close to £1million. It’s not even just that. The behaviour that I was doing, I was driving recklessly, having no regard for myself.

‘I didn’t really care about myself. I’d end up crashing cars and then paying to get them fixed. It was all my fault, I hold my hands up to all of this. I am dealing with the consequences and now I want to set it straight.’

Jack soared to fame after winning Love Island in 2018 with then-girlfriend Dani Dyer, with the pair winning the series.

Jack has noted that drugs played a part in the breakdown of his relationship with Dani, remarking that his ‘priorities were wrong’ and he was a ‘bad boyfriend’. 

Despite the great opportunities being on the show offered, Jack wished he had ‘never been in the public eye’ and remained who he was beforehand, but was quick to note that destruction was ‘always in me’.

Things got so bad that at his lowest ebb, Jack attempted to take his own life during a break to a West Midlands country hotel with TOWIE star girlfriend Chloe.

Jack and his girlfriend Chloe have had a tumultuous relationship over the years after first getting together in 2019, but news of their split for a sixth time emerged earlier this week  

Jack survived the suicide attempt and was later taken away by the police to sober up, escaping with just a busted ankle that left him unable to walk for weeks.

Jack and his girlfriend Chloe have had a tumultuous relationship over the years after first getting together in 2019. 

The pair moved into their first home together in May 2024 and even created a joint account to share their home updates. 

However, last month it was reported that the pair had gone their separate ways for a sixth time after a string of heated rows.

For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit www.thecalmzone.net/get-support.

For help with a gambling problem phone GamCare 24 hours a day on 0808 8020 133 or visit www.gamcare.org.uk.