A different kettle of fish from the Lorraine appearance

The interview wasn't live so I've no idea how much of the footage Sky News will use until I see it (on Saturday, I think). So how did it go? Well, as with the Lorraine Kelly show, it's a bit of a blur to me.


The reporter and cameraman arrived, and we had a general talk about Ben and the anorexia. Then 'Ben' and I were filmed baking flapjack in the kitchen which was a really surreal experience, pretending that the camera wasn't there and trying to act as if it was 'just another day in the kitchen' until I tripped over a bag of onions (edited out, hopefully...)

Then we were both interviewed in the living room. First Ben, who was absolutely awesome talking about his anorexia and what he'd say to boys or parents of boys that may be worried their son may be developing an eating disorder - and then me, who was... well... it's a complete blank. I just rambled, hopefully saying something worthwhile along the way. This was followed by some footage of me supposedly writing my Anorexia Boy Blog up in the back bedroom 'office'.

Obviously it was different than Lorraine Kelly because it wasn't live. Also, it wasn't a 'cosy sofa chat'; it was a proper, serious news report for Sky News with the aim of alerting families of boys who might be developing an eating disorder like anorexia - talking about the signs to look for, etc, so hopefully the eating disorder can be caught early.

I emphasised how, as parents of a boy, you don't expect your child to develop an eating disorder. It never enters your head. The alarm bells might ring if you have a girl, but boys? Well, if you're anything like I was, eating disorders are completely off your radar. (Well, this is what I meant to say but I think that somehow I said 'Planet Zorg'...??! Will they edit out Planet Zorg, I wonder?!)

I also talked about how my blog aims to fast-track other parents through the extensive 'learning curve' which we had to go through as Ben descended into anorexia and point them towards the extensive information and support available, like the ATDT forum and FEAST website.

But, apart from that, much of what I said is pretty much a blur with me only aware that I was staring at the interviewer like a maniac and putting on my 'old and serious' face. But, heck, people aren't watching it to see me; rather what Ben and I are saying (hopefully).

Once it's screened, I'll put a link to the video on this blog and Facebook. The Sky News reporter who interviewed us is also writing a report with the video embedded into it. Hopefully that page will also include links to the various eating disorder support websites e.g. FEAST, ATDT, Men Get Eating Disorders Too and B-EAT.

So watch this space...

PS: Ben was awesome, but he does say on the news report that he didn't like me writing this anorexia blog when I first started out. Actually this isn't true; this blog was mainly his idea. What he meant to say in the report was that he didn't like me talking to the other mums on the ATDT forum for parents of young people with eating disorders. Why didn't he like it? Because this was in the Bad Old Days of High Anorexia and, as he states, it was the Eating Disorder that didn't like it, not the 'real' Ben. But he has always been 100% supportive of this blog!