TRAITORS star Alex Gray has bravely opened up about the debilitating illness that leaves her bedridden in pain and covered in an angry red rash.
Alex, who appeared on the first series of the hit BBC show alongside her boyfriend Tom Elderfield, admits she “grieves the life” she had before her health issues.
Alex’s health struggles began at age 16, when she suffered from anorexia, depriving herself of vital calories at a critical time in her development.
By the time she was 22, she had developed bulimia and found herself trapped in a toxic cycle of food and exercise.
However, Alex was forced to put her eating disorder behind her when she began experiencing crippling symptoms from a silent autoimmune condition.
‘Shake people awake’
She had to completely rethink her relationship with food to survive the relentless attack on her body – and is now speaking out to highlight the connection between the two.
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous, Alex, 30, says, “It’s almost like I just want to go over and shake people awake.
“I’d say, ‘This is what you’re doing to your body. This is what happened to me. I don’t want you to go down the same path.’
“But when you’re in the storm of an eating disorder, you’re not thinking about the damage you’re causing.”
Alex’s eating disorder began in 2012, starting with anorexia before spiralling into bulimia. By the age of 23 (in 2019), the relentless cycle had taken a serious toll on her body, and she began to experience symptoms she’d never had before.
She says: “I used to go to the gym every single day for at least one to two hours. Exercise fed into my eating disorder. I was militant. I would run 5k on the treadmill trying to beat 20 minutes, then do weights afterwards.
“One day, I was running and felt like I was blacking out. But I pushed through. I tried doing weights and had zero strength. I kept telling myself I was useless, weak, but really, my body had just had enough. I’d pushed it too far.”
Alex suffered fatigue, joint pain, and numbness throughout her body, but she says she found it hard to get doctors to take her symptoms seriously.
She says: “They just said I was travelling too much or working too hard.
“I had extreme fatigue, arthritic pain in my hands, fibromyalgia along my spine and limbs, but because no one could see it, and because I suppose I underplayed it, doctors didn’t take me seriously.
Fibromyalgia is a long-term condition known as an ‘invisible illness’ because it’s hard for professionals to diagnose. It causes widespread burning or aching pain in the body, chronic fatigue, and cognitive difficulties which can make simple everyday tasks feel exhausting.
‘I can’t get out of bed’
She adds: “It wasn’t until I developed a red rash around my eyes and night sweats that they ran tests, even thinking it might be cancer. Luckily, it wasn’t, but they still couldn’t explain everything.”
Doctors eventually diagnosed Alex, from London, with coeliac disease. Scans also revealed she had arthritis, but many of her other symptoms still remain a mystery.
“On my worst days, I get a rash over my eyes and feel groggy,” Alex says. “I can’t get out of bed; everything hurts.
“My back feels on fire, my hands are stiff, so much that even holding my phone is a struggle. I get terrible brain fog; I can’t even string a sentence together.
“On days like that, I just stay in bed, watch a film, and sleep.”
Research from the University of Oxford in 2016 found that women with anorexia are around twice as likely to develop an autoimmune disease later in life. Women with bulimia also face a significantly higher risk – about 80 per cent greater than those without an eating disorder.
My eating disorder significantly contributed to the issues I have
Alex Gray
Dr Lucy Hooper, a private GP and co-founder of Coyne Medical, who wasn’t involved in the study, but has extensive experience with patients juggling complex, overlapping health issues, including eating disorders and autoimmune conditions, explains: “Both autoimmune diseases and eating disorders are associated with raised levels of inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6.
“These chemical messengers are elevated in inflammatory conditions and can travel between different areas of the body, for example, between the gut and the brain.
“Their effects extend beyond the immune system and can influence mood, appetite regulation and how individuals respond to food, including cravings and urges.”
For Alex, this research hits close to home as she believes her own eating disorders have played a major role in the health problems she faces today.
Where to get eating disorder help and support
IF you’re struggling with an eating disorder, there are various ways you can get help.
For urgent help or medical advice for yourself or someone else please contact 999 and select option 2 – the mental health option.
If you’re looking for non-urgent help, the Samaritans are available on 116 123.
Or you can speak to your GP, or 111 for out of hours advice.
Beat also provides support via phone line, webchat and email – find details here.
And you can text SHOUT to 85258 for support via text message.
“I do think my eating disorder significantly contributed to the issues I have,” she says. “My focus used to be ‘How can I be skinny? What can I eat or not eat?’
“If someone had said to me, ‘Keep going like this and this is what will happen in five years,’ I would have knocked it all on the head and said I don’t want that life.”
Thankfully, Alex has learned to manage her symptoms through dietary changes. She avoids gluten entirely due to her coeliac diagnosis – an autoimmune condition where gluten tricks the immune system into attacking its own gut, stopping it from absorbing essential nutrients. She also limits dairy and has cut back drastically on exercise.
“It’s been a huge battle,” she says. “I grieve my previous self, the energy I had, the life I could have had. I used to be a Duracell bunny, always running around.
“Now I have to pace my energy. I don’t overexert myself now. I really try not to dwell on ‘what ifs,’ but it’s hard. That said, it has taught me to slow down and appreciate life more.”
If someone had said to me, ‘Keep going like this and this is what will happen in five years,’ I would have knocked it all on the head and said I don’t want that life.
Alex Gray
Through it all, her boyfriend Tom, 28, has been a huge support.
She says: “Tom’s incredible. He’s always thoughtful, making ginger tea, getting little treats, and asking what I need without me having to say anything. I couldn’t ask for more.”
The couple bought a home together following their appearance on Traitors and are excitedly looking ahead to the future.
When asked if marriage is on the cards, Alex smiles. “We’ll see,” she says. “We’ve been together for four years, so it would be a natural next step.”
And would her fellow Traitors’ friends be invited?
“Yeah, 100 per cent!” she says, “We’d have it at Ardross Castle. Claudia could officiate; she’d look amazing. It would be unreal!”
Expert insight on eating disorders and autoimmune conditions
Eating disorders and autoimmune conditions are closely connected, and Dr Lucy Hooper says research is starting to show why.
Inflammation
Both conditions involve high levels of inflammation in the body. These chemical signals can travel between organs – for example, from the gut to the brain – affecting mood, appetite, and even cravings.
Body’s own antibodies
In autoimmune disease, the body makes antibodies that mistakenly attack itself. Similar antibodies are also found in people with anorexia, which can affect the brain’s appetite signals and influence eating behaviour.
Gut and immune system
The bacteria in the gut (and even the mouth) can change in people with eating disorders. This can make the gut “leaky,” letting substances into the body that trigger inflammation and more antibodies, which may worsen symptoms. Taken together, this shows that eating disorders aren’t just psychological. The body itself is affected, which may help explain why some people go on to develop autoimmune problems. Understanding these links could help doctors treat both conditions and might even allow earlier detection or prevention in the future.
Dr Lucy Hooper is a private GP and co-founder of Coyne Medical (www.coynemedical.com)
