Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden hurt by body shaming

People spot maine connected Strictly with the astir beauteous and glamorous dresses, fake tan, the champion hairsbreadth and marque up and deliberation what's she got to kick about?

But I woody with the interaction of having Crohn's disease and person days erstwhile I spell into infirmary erstwhile I'm the furthest from the Amy you spot connected the telly.

I person experienced assemblage shaming. I instrumentality steroids and it makes maine enactment connected weight.

I'm taking 8 steroids a time to support maine retired of hospital. When radical online accidental "she has thunder thighs", it hurts.

I've been dancing since I was 8 years aged and creation is portion of who I americium - but truthful excessively is Crohn's, which I've had since I was 11.

Although the information isn't disposable from the outside, immoderate of the symptoms and medicine tin person an effect connected the mode I look - it's thing I've been assemblage shamed astir and that hurts.

Crohn's is simply a lifelong invisible information wherever parts of your digestive strategy go inflamed and I'll get truly swollen eyes, unspeakable rima ulcers, spots crossed my assemblage and my skin.

My Crohn's flare-ups are frustrating and annoying without everybody other bringing it to your attraction - and it's adjacent worse erstwhile it's comments from radical you don't know. It truly sticks with me.

I tin retrieve doing a creation contention erstwhile I was astir 19 oregon 20, I'd been connected a truly precocious dose of steroids and it bloated maine a batch - and my look changed, I called it the guinea pig face. My costume was truly tight. It took maine a batch to get connected the dancefloor.

I retrieve walking onto the level and this nonrecreational dancer shouted retired "she's got a abdominous bottom" and a "thick middle" - well, that's the polite mode of saying it. That remark has stayed with maine for the remainder of my beingness and erstwhile I spell connected steroids, it's the archetypal happening I hear.

She didn't cognize what I'd been done and alternatively of dancing I conscionable wanted to tally disconnected and cry. I got done the creation but that woman doesn't realise that enactment she said, I'm inactive talking astir it present much than 10 years later.

Sometimes they tin beryllium ignorant oregon sceptical but erstwhile you get idiosyncratic criticising the mode you look due to the fact that of your illness, it's adjacent much hurtful.

One successful 5 radical successful the UK person a disablement - and the immense bulk of those are said to beryllium invisible.

Body shaming is atrocious whether your unwellness is disposable oregon invisible. Anyone with an invisible unwellness volition beryllium utilized to getting comments.

When you person an invisible illness, we person to conflict done truthful overmuch connected a time to time ground truthful we don't request immoderate other connected top.

Imagine you had a portion of wood and you've enactment nails successful it. Even if you took the nails out, there's inactive a dent near successful that portion of wood. Every clip you accidental a nasty remark to somebody, you're leaving a dent wrong of them.

For my caller BBC Sounds podcast, I wanted to talk with others with invisible illnesses and who person been assemblage shamed to inquire what interaction it has had connected them - and what's the champion mode to woody with it.

Someone that knows this excessively good is Harnaam Kaur, who has polycystic ovary syndrome - 1 of the symptoms tin beryllium precocious levels of antheral hormones which tin pb to excess assemblage oregon facial hair.

"I was ostracised, discriminated against and I was bullied adjacent much horrendously," Harnaam told me. "I bash get a batch of decease threats, I get a batch of radical being precise horrid.

"I grew retired my facial hairsbreadth astatine 16 and it wasn't 1 of those things wherever I got up and I was similar 'right, I'm going to look the satellite now'. No, it took existent strength, existent courage.

"I telephone myself brave and I spot that wrong maine but sometimes that tin beryllium truly patronising 'Oh, you're truthful brave, you person a beard, you look different'. Well wherefore wouldn't I conscionable clasp my beard? Why is it brave?

"This satellite is hard and tough, radical are horrible, radical tin beryllium rude and cruel but erstwhile determination is injustice, determination volition ever beryllium radical similar maine to basal up and combat for what's right.

"With children, there's a batch of innocence. When it comes to adults, there's nary excuse - it's much ignorance.

"It's affected my vocation arsenic radical volition justice you connected look value. So wherever interviews would person lasted an hour. An hr and a fractional lone lasted 5 minutes.

"This satellite volition effort and propulsion you down and interruption you due to the fact that they deliberation that those that look antithetic person debased aforesaid esteem oregon nary confidence. Well, you've messed with the incorrect idiosyncratic if you're going to measurement to maine similar that."

But not each assemblage shaming comes from online trolls and it tin beryllium acold much subtle.

I spoke to Mared Parry, who had to woody with scoliosis portion increasing up and faced a batch of teasing.

"I was relentlessly bullied, she told me. "Kids volition hop onto thing to rip astatine you. I got called each sanction nether the sun. But I'm grateful for each the bullies successful a weird mode arsenic it made maine privation to propulsion and enactment adjacent harder.

"I ever get shouted astatine successful the thoroughfare by men 'someone has mislaid her equilibrium successful her heels tonight' oregon if I'm connected a nighttime retired a bouncer mightiness accidental 'you're drunk and can't locomotion decently successful those heels'.

"I'm similar 'actually babe I'm disabled and they usually unopen up beauteous quickly. But that's what I woody with each the time. People aren't mean connected purpose, due to the fact that I person an invisible disability, radical don't cognize I person it."

Mared makes an absorbing constituent arsenic sometimes radical aren't deliberately trying to offend oregon bully. People don't deliberation earlier they speak. They marque throwaway remarks, but they tin beryllium acold from throwaway for those connected the receiving end.

They tin spot distant astatine your aforesaid worth. Especially erstwhile you tin beryllium truly debased erstwhile you're successful pain, that affects your emotions and however bushed you are and the slightest remark past tin extremity you implicit the borderline - and stress, for me, is the worst happening for my condition.

What I person recovered refreshing astir everyone I've spoken to is however unfastened they are astir their conditions and however they are trying to crook antagonistic experiences into affirmative ones.

They person accepted their conditions, they haven't tried to alteration for the nationalist and I deliberation that's truthful important to anybody with a disablement who conscionable wants to beryllium themselves.

If you person been affected by immoderate of the issues successful this story, the BBC Action Line has links to organisations which tin connection enactment and advice.