I lied about my weight to buy dangerous jabs online in a bid to get thinner – they made me so ill, says Nicola McLean
SHE has suffered from an eating disorder since she was a child.
But Nicola McLean admits it didn’t stop her buying controversial weight loss jabs online in a bid to slim down.
The injections — which were originally created to treat type 2 diabetes — are thought to be used by celebrities including Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk.
Last week experts revealed that they are also being abused by slim people with eating disorders, including those such as reality TV’s Nicola, who are able to buy them on websites such as eBay and Instagram.
The former glamour model, who is now speaking out in a bid to warn others of the jab’s dangers, said: “It made me so ill.
"It’s advertised like it’s going to perform miracles.
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“People like myself who are suffering from bulimia and anorexia will look at this and think, ‘This is the moment I’ve been waiting for, this is going to be life-changing for me’.
“I thought this was the answer to all my prayers, but it was a big mistake. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.”
Nicola — mum to Rocky, 17, and Striker, 13, with professional footballer husband Tom Williams — started suffering from anorexia and bulimia when she was 11 and was later diagnosed with body dysmorphia.
She says her battle to stay healthy has been a continuous struggle, and in 2021 she was looking for a “quick fix” to lose weight, despite already being a very slim size 10.
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She then thought she had found it after stumbling across the weight-loss jabs on social media.
Online nurse
Nicola, 41, says: “I was scrolling through Instagram one day, and I came across someone who had it.
“I don’t want to see weight loss stuff, it’s the last thing I need, but Instagram knows that’s what I look at, so it came up.
“I messaged them straight away asking if it works, and the person replied saying that it was brilliant.
“Straight away, I said, ‘Great, how can I get one?’ and she told me about an Instagram account, which classes itself as an online nurse, and promotes healthy weight loss.
“They ask you your weight, your blood pressure and your BMI. The person advised me to say I was at least two stone heavier than I really was.
“So I lied about my weight, gave my normal height of 5ft 4in, my blood pressure, paid £250 for a month’s worth and within a couple of days it arrived. It was so simple and easy.
“I thought it was that quick fix I had always been looking for. I told myself it was no big deal. If celebrities were doing it, it would be safe for me too.”
The injections are marketed in the UK as Wegovy for obesity patients and Ozempic for those with type 2 diabetes, and need to be administered weekly.
Nicola bought a third brand, Saxenda, which must be used daily.
The medications work by suppressing appetite, which can lead to significant weight loss.
Nicola says: “Every morning I’d inject myself with it, but after about a week of using it I started to feel really ill.
“I was violently sick, and Tom was like, ‘That is so odd for you’, because I have got the strongest stomach you’ll ever know from being bulimic for years.
“Then I started getting headaches, but I brushed those off. Tom kept saying, ‘It’s this skinny jab’, but I would brush him off too. I was obviously in denial. My weight was more important to me.”
Despite feeling ill, Nicola then bought another month’s worth of the drug and says: “It was making me not want to eat, but that was helping me in so many ways because when you are obsessed with food, whether you are under- or over-eating, to be free of that feeling was really nice.
“It was really nice to not be fixated on eating or not eating, it just makes your appetite completely gone.
“I don’t use the scales, so I don’t know how much weight I lost, but I definitely dropped a dress size. Bear in mind, I didn’t have the weight to lose either.
“But I was just getting more ill. Every morning I was being sick but I didn’t have anything left to throw up so I was just retching.
"I kept deflecting it, telling myself it wasn’t the jabs, until one day Tom had enough and threw them away.
“He said, ‘Nic, you’re not overweight or diabetic, what are you doing to yourself?’
“So it was Tom who made me stop. Almost instantly I started to feel better, there were no headaches or sickness. I am obviously very thankful for that moment now.”
In 2010 Nicola reached one of her lowest points, weighing less than 6st, seven months after the birth of second son, Striker.
More recently she has begun treatment for ADHD, which she says has helped her massively to control her eating disorders.
She says: “Around 13 years ago I went to the GP when I weighed less than 6st.
"I was so anorexic, I was wearing age seven to eight leggings. They said my BMI was fine.
“Bulimia comes under an OCD, so they give you antidepressants, but that’s like putting a plaster over something. It’s not fixing the problem.
"At that point I decided I wasn’t going to weigh myself, I’d try to sort it out, and I haven’t used the scales since.
“Then, six months to a year ago, I was diagnosed with ADHD. They put me on medication for it and I have barely been bulimic since.
“I’s been life-changing. I hate to say I don’t have bulimia any more because I’ve gone through most of my life with it.
"It would make me feel unnerved to not still be in recovery, rather than saying I don’t have it. But I haven’t felt the need to over-eat and then be sick, and I don’t feel the need to self-destruct.”
With weight loss jabs more accessible than ever, Nicola wants the Government to change the law. According to the Priory Group, 1.25million to 3.4million people in the UK have a disorder.
She says: “I’m not against these jabs for people who are morbidly obese, but they need counselling or psychotherapy with it.
“Having an eating disorder is a mental illness, it’s not just about jabbing yourself and then the job’s done. Whenever you see the drug advertised it says celebs are doing it.
"There is never a picture of someone overweight, it’s always a slim person.
“It’s sold as if it is going to perform miracles. I won’t lie, some of it is still so alluring. Sometimes I think, ‘Could I put up with the sickness again?’ and this is why it’s so dangerous.
“When you have an eating disorder, it’s not hard to slip back into ways of thinking, like, ‘God, wouldn’t it be so thrilling if I wasn’t thinking about food all the time?’
“Young girls and boys will be looking up to people like Kim Kardashian and thinking, ‘This is what she does’, but in reality she works out, eats clean and is disciplined to another level.”
Nicola, who appeared on I'm A Celebrity in 2008, will continue to campaign about eating disorders as well as working on her own recovery, and she says: “I believe more funding needs to go into mental health and eating disorders.
“I support the Dump The Scales campaign, which calls on the Government to review the eating disorder guidance delivered by clinicians, and I want to continue using my knowledge to campaign for better understanding on eating disorders.
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"I am so glad I can see with clarity now that these jabs are so irresponsible for vulnerable people, those with eating disorders and anyone who doesn’t need them.”
- The Beat Eating Disorders helpline is open 365 days a year. Call 0808 801 0677 or see .