The Health Blogger Who Duped Us All

Our social feeds are drip-fed with their images, advice and motivational mantras. But are these seemingly warm-hearted, hard-bodied wellness superstars really selling us a load of dangerous health juju in the name of cold, hard business? Cosmopolitan investigates.

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By last summer, Celia Learmonth had clocked up an impressive 20,000 followers on her Instagram account. A super-fit personal trainer with accompanying model good looks, she chronicled her exercise and diet regime on her blog and social-media accounts to a growing army of devoted fans.

Celia’s posts ticked all the right boxes – gym selfies of her toned torso in designer Lycra; artfully arranged bowls of protein porridge and berries; half-guzzled bottles of green juice, the occasional inspirational phrase (‘Be positive, patient and persistent’) – and, of course, the obligatory #avotoast. Her followers liked each post by the hundreds and hailed her as an inspiration.

But in August, the motivational quotes and healthy hashtags were abruptly replaced by a confessional post by the British blogger admitting that, rather than being at the pinnacle of health, as her posts suggested, she was seeking treatment for an eating disorder. ‘I shamefully admit that I am a fraudulent fitness blogger – or at least that’s how I feel,’ Celia, 22, wrote.

Looking back now, she says she was, “pretending to be this healthy and confident girl, when really I was a hot mess waiting to erupt.

“I felt like a fraud posting positivity all the while knowing what I was doing behind closed doors. Now I’m free from the alter ego I had created for myself and the deceitful hole I’d dug myself into, and I insist authenticity and honesty come first and foremost.”

Undue influence?