James McVey wants to make a TV documentary about his struggle with body dysmorphia.

James McVey

James McVey

The 27-year-old Vamps star was inspired by watching cricketer Freddie Flintoff's show about his bulimia and revealed he would love to follow in his footsteps by working on a programme about his own body issues.

James told The Sun on Sunday: "I'm so inspired by Freddie. It's absolutely incredible to see someone like that, with that sphere of influence, talking about mental health.

"On the face of it you think he's on top of the world — an athlete and a successful presenter. I'm so happy to speak about this now but if you'd asked me three years ago I would have said no.

"If there's evidence to suggest other people can get through similar struggles then absolutely I'd do a documentary, especially if it complements what we're doing as a band."

Earlier this week, James revealed the shocking extent of his body dysmorphia, including that he underwent liposuction at the age of 20 to have tissue removed from his chest.

Speaking on The Independent's ‘Millennial Love’ podcast, he said: "It's easier for people to write it off as vanity but it's not that.

"In many ways, it's self-destructive. Because I guess at the crux of it, you want to be liked and accepted and be happy with yourself but what you're doing to your body is torturous in many ways.

"It wasn't fat at all, it was just breast tissue. And no matter how much I starved myself or went to the gym and lifted weights, it would never go. So I ended up having tissue removed.

"I had to wear this vest thing for like a month so my insides didn't seep out of these stitches that I had. And I was just like, this is f***** up.

"It's only in the past couple of years when I've looked back and realised that was a really strange place for me, and it still affects me a lot now."