The Project's Sarah Harris leaves viewers in tears with heartbreaking admission

"It made me very, very sick, and it's absolutely stupid."

The Project's Sarah Harris left viewers in tears on Monday night when she shared a heartbreaking admission about taking diet pills as a child after being told she was "too fat" for the front row of a dance.

After hearing about how more and more young people are taking unprescribed diet pills, diuretics or laxatives in an effort to lose weight after seeing influencers peddle them on social media, Sarah shared her own story.

The Project's Sarah Harris
The Project's Sarah Harris left viewers in tears on Monday night when she shared a heartbreaking diet admission. Photo: Ten

"When I was 11 years old, I was put on a diet by a dance teacher because I was told I was too fat for the front row and even back then I remember, you know, pinching herbal diet pills from the medicine cabinet that my mum would take," Sarah shared.

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"It didn't make me skinny. It made me very, very sick, and it's absolutely stupid, which is why it makes me so angry that these influencers are allowed to peddle this stuff – we know it's dangerous," she continued.

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"And that they're carrying these scars from childhood, it never leaves you. When people talk about, you know, 'what's your Roman Empire?' I think, for a lot of women in particular, it's their body.

"There's not a minute of the day that you don't think about your body and what's wrong with it, and we've got to change that, it's awful."

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Fans were quick to respond on Instagram, with one user writing, "How I can relate to this. I had tears. It’s so true. It never ever leaves you. Ever!"

The Project hosts
Sarah admitted to taking her mum's diet pills when she was a child after being told she was 'too fat' to be in the first row of a dance. Photo: Ten

"Well said Sarah," another said. "I’m 53 and a size 10-12 and still think I should be thinner whilst realising how stupid that is. It all started in childhood for women over 40 for sure. If I spent the amount of time I do thinking I need to do/be/look better on study I’d nail a law degree in a year!"

"I 'inherited' my body dysmorphia from my mother, who to this day will still ask me how much I weigh!" a third shared. "As a mother of 4 (3 of them daughters), I’m proud to say it stopped with me! It took me 48 years to get off the diet merry-go-round, and I’ve never been healthier or happier."

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"Heartbreaking but so true," a fourth said. "Time to change the narrative for our kids."

"I was on diets from my mother at the age of 14... Screwed with my relationship with food!" someone else added.

"Yes. Our Roman empire is our body image," another wrote. "How eye opening."

"Sarah, I love you," one fan shared. "You are so deeply genuine."

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