"It's my second to last show so I'm going to have my final rant, if you like."
Jeff Stelling, the staple of Sky Sports football coverage since 1994, and the nation's voice of the latest scores, paused the pre-match discussion about league titles, top four places and relegation last weekend to shine a spotlight upon something so much more important, but rarely discussed.
Addressing the camera and the thousands watching, an emotional, eventually tearful Stelling spoke about the march for the #DumpTheScales campaign which was taking place in central London that afternoon.
The aim? To raise awareness, understanding and much needed funds for what is statistically the deadliest of mental illnesses.
"The government’s lack of awareness and funding is a national disgrace," said a passionate Stelling, staring straight ahead and addressing a general public who may not know much about eating disorders, but are increasingly likely to know someone who has one.
“Up to 20 per cent of all eating disorder cases end in death and the cycle goes like this. Boy, girl, woman, man, goes for help, they are told they are not thin enough, they are not underweight enough to need treatment.
"They go away, they lose more weight, they go further and deeper into the mental morass that they’re in. They have suicidal tendencies.
"They are then told ‘you are now too thin to be treated’ and are offered palliative care for God’s sake. So we’re not going to help you but we will try and ensure you die comfortably. It’s 2023.
“Eating disorders are being swept under the carpet. No one should be dying of an eating disorder in 2023. Those with eating disorders need action and help, and they need it now.”
As stop you in your tracks television moments go, it was right up there.
Stelling, on his penultimate appearance on the Soccer Saturday show he has become synonymous with, and in a clip viewed by many thousands in real time and then millions more on Sky's social media channels, had just called out the government on behalf of a group so often ignored and misunderstood.
For two women he had mentioned at the beginning of his speech, it was a moment that meant so much.
"I felt completely overwhelmed, his message was so powerful and just hit the nail on the head," says Hope Virgo, dubbed "indefatigable" by Stelling in his passionate plea, the founder of the #DumpTheScales campaign and leader of the last weekend's march.
"I cried when I saw it, as it was what I have been saying and feeling for years. And to have someone like that speak up was and is so powerful.
"I didn’t know what he was going to say. Someone tagged me on Twitter and then I watched it later and am just so grateful.
"Not many people use their platform to raise awareness like he does. And, given the audience too, it’s a whole load of people who need to know about the dangers around eating disorders."
The campaigner, who dropped an open letter into Downing Street after the march calling on proper investment into treatment from the government, is hoping that Stelling's help in raising awareness will lead to more and more people understanding the illness.
"There is so much stigma behind eating disorders," she continues.
"It’s often seen as a choice, or someone being vain, but it’s a serious mental illness that can impact anybody of any age, gender, size, race and ethnicity and we must do more to bring all this out in the light so people can recover."
Abigail Davies, a freelance sports reporter who works as a colleague of Stelling's on Soccer Saturday and who fronted a frank and moving mental health discussion on last weekend's show, was also namechecked by the presenter.
Davies suffered from anorexia as a child into adulthood and has first hand experience of the deep trauma that can come with such a serious mental illness. Now working tirelessly as a mental health ambassador and advocate, she knows what needs to change and the impact words like Stelling's need to have.
"Jeff Stelling is my ultimate idol," she says.
"When I joined Twitter my bio read 'when I grow up I want to be Jeff Stelling!' Shamefully, he was my first profile picture on Facebook!
"I can't describe how great it is to have someone like Jeff talk so eloquently and passionately about a topic like that when it feels, to me and many other sufferers, that nobody wants to listen, that nobody cares or gives it the time of day."
That eating disorder sufferers are misunderstood by a general public unaware of the complexities of a deep mental illness is one thing - and sure enough a small handful of Twitter trolls had their say when Sky Sports posted the video of Stelling - but for the government not to understand it is quite another.
Change needs to happen, and they aren't providing it.
"I think having Jeff opening that conversation, and to see the reaction it had on social media and so many millions watching it, that meant more to so many of us that he would have even known at the time," says Davies.
"We are at a point of crisis at the moment, and I think that has to override everything personally. It just hits home when you see that people are being offered end of life care for a mental illness in 2023. I would have been one of those people.
"For many of us, it's not us that don't want help, it's anorexia. I went from anorexia controlling 10 to 20 to 30 to 100 per cent of my thought process.
"It's like being in an abusive relationship with your mind. It's often coupled with body dysmorphia, so you can't see what your illness is doing to your body, then you've got voices inside your head that make you believe that you're unworthy of happiness, or that you're not allowed to do anything that doesn't satisfy anorexia, or that the only thing you can be successful at in life is having anorexia and making anorexia happy.
"It seeps into your life and manipulates you to the point where you think that it's the only friend you need. So you exist purely to satisfy it.
"When that happens its not Abi saying 'I don't want help', it's that there is no longer enough of Abi in there to make that decision. It is purely anorexia making that decision."
Stelling, who will host his final show on the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday, has frequently spoken out about important issues during his time on screen, which is why many hope that his presenting career continues long after this weekend.
"I think the fact that what Jeff said was criticising the government and Sky Sports still posted it just shows that it has to be done," says Davies.
"Someone has to raise their head above the parapet and it seems to be Jeff. He's using his words to great effect, and it was fantastic to see that so many people from the footballing community wanted to help and get behind this cause.
"I've watched that video back about 10 times, and I've cried every time.
"He is going to be so missed by the entire nation, and when he gave that message on Saturday it just shows that he still has so much to offer and I really, really hope that we still see him on our screens.
"He's shown that he's certainly not done yet."
You can sign the #dumpthescales petition here
Beat is the UK's eating disorder charity. You can visit their website and find them on Twitter
