X Factor host Kate Thornton reveals show boss told her to slim down at weight ... trends now

Once the biggest Saturday night show on British television, The X Factor has recently been mired in controversy as acts continue to speak out about their poor treatment.

And now, Kate Thornton has hit out at the reality show, claiming she was asked to lose weight by a television executive while hosting in the early noughties.

The broadcaster, 51, has said a producer on the show offered to pay for her to go to a weight loss retreat during her tenure as host from 2004-2006, despite her already being a slim size eight.

She said the unnamed executive also suggested she had her facial freckles 'bleached' as they were 'quite annoying.'

Ms Thornton said she refused the offer as she is a recovered 'anorexic' and it was akin to telling an 'alcoholic to go and have a drink.'

She said she is 'proud of the way I represented myself' in the situation and believes she 'measures the world differently to that person' who has daughters.

'I was a size eight at the time,' she told the Walking the Dog with Emily Dean podcast.

'They offered me an all-expenses paid [trip] to a retreat where I could go and lose weight - and possibly get my freckles bleached because they were, "Quite annoying on camera."

She said she told the person who had suggested it to 'go and f*** themselves' and refused to do it.

She added: 'I'm a recovered anorexic. You wouldn't tell an alcoholic to go and have a drink so they're more fun with a pint inside them. It's the same and it's wrong.'

Ms Thorton, who was sacked from the role and replaced by Dermot O'Leary after three series, said it 'alienated' her and made her an 'easy target' but that she was proud of herself.

'When I say I'm proud of the way I represented myself, that's why I'm proud of myself,' she said.

'It alienated me and it made me an easy target but it also made me, with my shoulders back, someone I could look in the eye and be proud of and that was more important.'

She added: 'The size of my brain and my ability to drive a live show was always what I wanted to be measured by in those circumstances, not the circumference of my waist.

'I measure the world differently to that person. And that person has daughters: shame on them.'

Ms Thornton said the show's producers didn't want to hide the fact she was sacked as they 'wanted the headlines', which is why she decided to 'snapback.'

Despite the incident and her ultimate dismissal, Ms Thornton said: 'I enjoyed the on-air, I enjoyed the contestants, I enjoyed working with so much of the wider team that I'm still in touch with now.

'There were lots of good things that came from it.'

The presenter, who now hosts a radio show on Greatest Hits and has her own podcast, White Wine Question Time, developed an eating disorder after being bullied for years as a school girl.

'It was focused on my appearance and I thought if I'm smaller they might not do it,' she said of the bullying.

Ms Thornton previously discussed the bodyshaming incident on the Two Pints with Will & Ralph podcast, recalling: 'I said "Do you know what, I'm going to tell you two things now. 

"I'm going to tell you first of all I'm going to tell you why you can't say that because I've had a history of eating disorders, but you do know that, you are alive to that, so I'm just going to try to do the education piece of why this is not acceptable - and secondly go f*** yourself".'

Ms Thornton, who revealed she was regularly beaten to the ground by bullies for being 'chubby' - to the extent the police were involved following death threats - also revealed she later bumped into the TV executive down the line.

She added: 'Funnily enough, ten years later I was in the house and this person wandered past and goes "Hi, it's me, did you not recognise me?"

'I said "yeah, I ignored you". And I just watched this person wilt on his own vine.

'So I thought "Mate, you did that to me on the most spectacular level, so just taste some of the Kool-Aid you forced down my throat because it's not nice."' 

In recent years a number of former X Factor contestants including Rebecca Ferguson and Katie Waissel have criticised the show.

Ms Waissel claimed there was 'abuse, manipulation and coercion that went on behind the scenes' and that there was little after-care for the acts, who were plucked from obscurity.

ITV has been approached for comment.

For help and support with eating disorders contact SEED on (01482) 718130 or visit www.seedeatingdisorders.org.uk 

What REALLY happened behind the scenes of The X Factor - from being forced to 'fake cry' by bosses to being left in tears from exhaustion 

At its peak The X Factor was no doubt a reality TV juggernaught, enthralling millions of viewers with its annual battle to find the nation's next big popstar.

Created by Simon Cowell in 2004, the show helped to launch the careers of some of the UK's biggest stars, including Little Mix, One Direction and Alexanra Burke.

But behind closed doors, the ITV show was far from a rosy experience for many of its contestants, with some claiming that bosses convinced them to fake certain moments in a bid to boost ratings.

While the series pulled in a record 18 million viewers at its peak, in later years it came under fire for manufacturing results and storylines, and was quietly placed on hiatus in 2018. 

So, as a new BBC podcast, Offstage: Inside The X Factor, offers a brand new look at the divisive talent show, MailOnline takes a look at what really went on when the judges left the stage...

While many reality shows are known to elevate certain exchanges in a bid to boost drama, contestant Lauren Conway has claimed that she was told to produce

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