Frankie Bridge commanded attention as she occupied a coveted front-row seat at the Vautrait show during Paris Fashion Week on Monday. The 37-year-old Loose Women panellist presented a strikingly elegant figure in an oversized beige suit, featuring a voluminous jacket paired with flowing palazzo pants.
Fashion Statement with a Personal Backstory
Frankie accentuated her slender waist with a sleek black leather belt, from which dangled a brown purse that coordinated perfectly with her pointed heels. She styled her glossy hair into a sophisticated bob and enhanced her delicate features with glamorous makeup. The television personality exuded confidence as she posed enthusiastically ahead of the catwalk presentation, marking the commencement of the annual fashion extravaganza.
Revealing Past Struggles
Her fashionable appearance follows recent revelations about her personal challenges. The former singer disclosed how she developed an eating disorder during her tenure with The Saturdays, a period when she felt her life "wasn't her own." Frankie was one-fifth of the popular pop group alongside bandmates Mollie King, Rochelle Humes, Una Healy, and Vanessa White.
She battled both depression and an eating disorder when the band reached the peak of their fame, confessing she "wouldn't touch a carb, ever." Speaking on the Daily Mail's The Life of Bryony podcast, Frankie explained that food became something she could control during a time when she felt she had little autonomy in her life.
The Control Mechanism
"I had a real strict routine," she elaborated. "I lived off drinks that would give me energy. If I was really hungry, I'd have a cereal bar or some chicken. I think some of that was to do with how I looked, but it was mostly a control thing. I obviously felt the pressure to look a certain way, being in a girl band, but that came from me."
She continued: "It mainly came from, this is the only way I can take any control of my day to day life. Because my anxiety was so bad, I wasn't hungry either. I was never aware that I wasn't eating. It wasn't until I'd go into my therapy sessions and my hands would be shaking and she'd be like, you need to eat something."
Depression During Pop Stardom
Frankie also discussed her struggle with depression, which began shortly after she joined The Saturdays at age seventeen. "The depression started quite near the beginning of The Saturdays," she recalled. "When you first start in a band, you never stop working. Your life becomes not your own."
She emphasized: "I loved it, I have nothing bad to say about being in The Saturdays. You're just kind of waiting to be told everyday what it is you're doing, I never had to think for myself. I think it took its toll. I think I felt a loss of control around my life and what was expected of me. I was going through a breakup quite publicly and I think it all just came to a head. Probably burnout, I had an eating disorder around that time."
Breaking Point in Ireland
The situation reached a critical juncture before a concert in Ireland when bandmate Mollie King discovered Frankie crying in her hotel room. "There was one show we did, I think it was in Ireland, and the minute we got to the hotel, I went in, shut all the lights off, closed the curtains and got straight into bed," Frankie recounted.
"I think it was Molly who came into my room and she'd never seen me like that before. I couldn't stop crying and was like, 'I can't do the show.' I managed to but like with her basically holding me up. After that, my doctor, they all came to my house and they were like, 'you have to go to hospital.' It's the only way you'll get the time you need because of my job."
Frankie organized the hospital admission through her agent, describing it as "keeping a dirty secret" since her bandmates and others were unaware of her situation at the time. Her candid discussion provides a powerful contrast to her current confident appearance at one of fashion's most prestigious events.
