Sam Faiers says she almost has a full set of eyelashes after overcoming rare condition that makes her pull them out
SAM Faiers almost has a full set of eyelashes again after overcoming a rare condition that makes her yank them out.
The Mummy Diaries beauty bravely spoke out about her own battle to help other people who suffer from OCD and mental health issues.
Reality TV queen Sam, 28, has updated fans with her progress after going into therapy to help cure her trichotillomania, a condition which means she has an uncontrollable desire to pull out her lashes.
In an exclusive chat with The Sun Online, the mum-of-two, who has been battling the condition for 20 years, said: "Therapy is going really well. I haven't got a full set of lashes yet, but almost. I'm getting there.
"I started pulling out my lashes because when I was a little girl someone told me that if I pulled out an eyelash and made a wish, that wish would come true.
"So when my dad went to prison, I pulled them out and wished he would come home."
Sam, who has been busy juggling therapy with her fashion ranges for AllbitsLondon and Quiz, added: "Billie was so worried that I would get bullied, she even made up a story for me to tell people in the playground about me doing a cartwheel, and it going wrong so my eyelashes got chopped off."
In scenes that will air on her reality show, Sam's partner Paul Knightley said he'd only propose to her when she grew a full set of lashes.
Speaking about his incentive for her to carry on with treatment, the former Towie star said: "I know, that was really sweet of Paul to say that.
"But I'm growing my eyelashes for me. It's something I want to do and achieve for myself as it's something I've suffered with for so long."
"I'm so glad I have spoken out about it. The feedback has been great and I think it has helped a lot of people.
"Not many people can relate to pulling their eyelashes out, but they can relate to having OCD, and mental health issues which is so important right now.
"Everyone struggles with something, we all have something going on, and in the future I'd love to be an ambassador for mental health issues."
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Last month, she revealed she had began therapy to stop pulling out her eyelashes for good.
The My Babiie for Mothercare designer told : "When Rosie was around 14 months old and I was still breastfeeding her, I would go to pull or stroke my eyelashes and I noticed she’d rub her eyelashes too – she was copying what I was doing.
"She didn’t know to pull, of course, but that was a big red flag. I was like, no, I can’t have her doing that. So when Rosie began to copy me that was the turning point. I knew I needed to get help."
The Mummy Diaries returns for a sixth series on ITVBe at 9pm on Wednesday September 11.
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