Scarlett Moffatt has spoken about her battle with facial tics in a new documentary highlighting the rise in young people with the condition.
The former Gogglebox star, 31, revealed she “didn’t feel in control of her own body” as she suffered with Bell’s Palsy as a teenager.
Bell’s Palsy is a temporary weakness or lack of movement affecting one side of the face which usually gets better within nine months, according to the NHS.
But Scarlett suffered with the condition for two years after being diagnosed with the condition at the age of 12.
“I’d try to suppress the facial tics so I didn’t stand out, which was like holding in a hiccup,” she told OK! magazine.
“And as soon as I’d get home they’d all come out. I didn’t feel in control of my own body.”
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Another condition which causes facial tics is Tourette's - and Scarlett will front new show Britain’s Tourette’s Mystery: Scarlett Moffatt Investigates, which airs on Channel 4 later this month.
Describing it as the “hardest thing I’ve ever filmed”, the 31-year-old shared her personal experience of living with the condition and said it is “totally unpredictable”.
She said she went to the doctor’s, but the treatment “wasn’t that simple”.
“You expect them to say, ‘Right, here’s a course of steroids and you can have speech therapy and it should get better’, but it wasn’t as easy as that.”
Scarlett said she was “lucky” as she has a really good support network around her, but is aware not everybody has that.
The new show sees Scarlett meet a group of TikTok influencers who have the same condition.
She also speaks to doctors who are treating an influx of teenage patients with tic disorders since the pandemic.
Although Scarlett has been in the public eye for years now after rising to fame on Gogglebox and winning I’m A Celebrity, she said she had to develop a thick skin while filming.
Some of the participants referred to her as “fat” and said she looked like The Muppets character Miss Piggy.
“Sometimes tics are funny - and I did definitely grow a thick skin during the making of the film,” she told The Sun.
"I got called ‘fat’, ‘Miss Piggy’ and ‘old’ while people were tic-ing, but it's also really serious.
"One guy we met, Ryan, had a huge tic attack - it was like his body wasn’t his own, I hope by watching, people get more of an understanding about what it’s like to live a day having Tourette's."
Speaking about the new show, Scarlett said she was “so grateful” to Channel 4 for making it.
She added: “This show is something I personally feel incredibly passionate about as I suffered with facial tics when diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy as a child.
“I wish there was this kind of information and education available back then as it’s something so many young people have to deal with.”
*Britain’s Tourette's Mystery: Scarlett Moffatt Investigates is set to air on Channel 4 on July 19 at 10pm
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