Fearne Cotton reveals she’s been ‘brutally’ axed from multiple TV shows and ‘replaced by Alan Carr’
FEARNE Cotton has hit out at the TV industry after she was brutally axed from a huge TV show.
The longtime media personality admitted that she has struggled with anxiety and depression by the brutal nature of showbiz.
Fearne, 42, first rose to prominence when she was just a teenager as she hosted the GMTV show, The Disney Club.
She was one of the main faces of the children’s TV programme and was part of the replacement called Diggit.
When she grew up, she went onto front Top Of The Pops before she presented the original edition of Love Island.
She was then well-known for gig when she was selected to host The Xtra Factor in 2007 alongside other gigs.
These included the morning show on Radio 1, as well as her team captain title alongside Holly Willoughby on Celebrity Juice.
But now the veteran TV personality has opened up on the dark side of the industry as she was continuously left unsure of what her next job would be.
She told The Sunday Times: “I’ve been sacked a million times.
“I’ve been sacked and not told I’ve been sacked. You just turn the telly on and someone else is doing your job.”
She added: “It’s all a big game. You’ve got the Monopoly board out and you’re moving around [trying to] dodge the danger.”
Although she didn’t mention any shows by name, earlier this year Alan Carr took over her role as the host of Interior Design Masters for the BBC.
She revealed that the challenges in the industry have taken a severe toll on her mental health over the years.
“If you want to get a whole host of mental health problems, get in the public eye really young because you get them all,” Ferne admitted.
The star added: “There’s no way you can get through it in one piece … All my mental health lows are because of my job. Nothing else.
“It is not conducive to a balanced mind.”
She also admitted how she was left depressed by the abuse she received after she took over Jo Whiley‘s slot on BBC Radio 1.
“You had a big screen with all the text messages coming in,” she explained.
“It’s ghastly speaking live with people going “You’re a k**b!” I took over from Jo Whiley — the queen of radio — so imagine the abuse.
“I can do live radio with my eyes closed, but I could not sleep the night before. “
Fearne added: “I’d get a week down the line and go, ‘I feel ill — I can’t do this.’ I got to the point where I just thought, ‘Why am I doing this to myself? Am I that desperate to be seen or heard?”
