Friday 25 November 2022 11:29 AM Zara McDermott vows to change her social media content after her Disordered ... trends now

Zara McDermott has vowed to change her content on social media after learning it 'triggers' people with eating disorders. 

BBC Three viewers were left divided after watching her new documentary, with many fans quick to slam the programme as 'tone-deaf'.

The former Love Island star, 25, appeared on BBC breakfast on Friday to discuss the devastating impact influencers' social media posts can have on young people struggling with eating disorders.

Zara told presenters Charlie Stayt and Tina De Healy: 'I was sadly trolled quite badly when I came out of the show because of my weight you know I wasn't the smallest girl there but I was a perfectly healthy weight but sadly the trolls decided to tell me I was too big.

'I then went on my own health and fitness journey and lost some weight as a result of that.

'I wasn't suffering from an eating disorder myself but I knew there was a massive demand for weight loss content so I was just posting not knowing the detrimental impact it was having on my followers. I was just meeting the demands for that content.'

When asked what the 'detrimental impact' was on her followers, Zara responded: 'We know that social media doesn't cause eating disorders but it can have a huge impact on the development so essentially posts of mine and many other influencers could have triggered someone eating disorder at some point.

'It's tough because I want to share my life I'm still passionate about eating healthy but it's about finding that balance in life.'

She explained her feelings now on posting revealing bikini pictures: 'I think every once in a while totally but it's all about not making it your whole social media profile, it's about body image and showing your personality and the things you love, not just how you look.

'I think even though I thought I was prepared for it nothing can prepare you for those conversations. It's very rare you sit down with the most vulnerable people in society and reflect on it so it was really eye opening and it's changed my view of myself and the content I put out and also I don't think I knew exactly what the trigger points were but now I do.'

When asked what she'll do moving forward, she said: 'Essentially for me I've learnt not to allow someone to emulate your exact lifestyle, exactly what you're eating in a day, what exercise you do because you may not believe it but people do what emulate exactly your lifestyle. 

'So not posting things like what I eat in a day, not strict workout regimes that people could copy.

'I also have a responsibility it's a bit of a tightrope because I want to share my life but I have to be mindful hat there's millions of people watching what I do and I don't want to trigger someone who's really vulnerable so it's about finding that perfect balance.

'I mean I think 99% of the feedback has been positive, there was always going to be 1% that say something because it's a controversial topic and a social media influencer taking on that topic was always going to have that.'

Zara's documentary on Disordered Eating divided viewers following its broadcast on Tuesday.

Taking to Twitter to share their immediate thoughts, many fans were quick to slam the programme as 'tone-deaf' and 'triggering,' but others lauded the Love Island star for realising she was 'part of the problem and wanting to fix it.'

In her documentary, Zara investigated the devastating impact of influencers' social media posts on young people struggling with eating disorders, with the star herself learning that her own Instagram imageshad been 'triggering.'

For the documentary, Zara spoke to a number of young people who had suffered from eating disorders, reflecting on how social media can have a

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