Scarlett Moffatt used to "suppress" her facial tics.

Scarlett Moffatt used to suppress her facial tics

Scarlett Moffatt used to suppress her facial tics

The 31-year-old TV star struggled with repeated facial spasms when she was a child and admitted she would spend "hours" screaming at herself in the mirror trying to get her face to stay straight.

She said: "I remember I would spend hours in front of the mirror screaming and trying to get my face straight or trying to make sure I wasn’t having facial tics.

"Adults around me would say things like ‘try not to do that' and obviously now I realise I was suppressing them.

"As soon as I’d get home, they’d come out more because at school, I really tried to suppress them. I remember at the time feeling like you’re trying to hold hiccups in but you’re just like no, it’s going to come out. It was that sort of feeling."

However, the former 'Gogglebox' star - who has been dating policeman Scott Dobinson since 2019 - was inspired by her struggles to create a Channel 4 documentary to uncover the potential causes of Tourette's.

The star admitted that while it was a "hard" process, she would like to do more factual programmes in the future.

She said: "I just felt like it was something I wanted to investigate and luckily the telly powers that be allowed that to happen. I’m so pleased that I’ve done it, I feel like I’ve learned the most I’ve ever learned in TV making this documentary. Documentaries are hard!

"I feel like the list [of topics to cover] is endless. I really enjoyed making this one because it was close to my heart and I feel like when you can relate to people, they know that whenever you’re asking difficult questions, there is no malice in it and no pre-judgement because you’ve been there yourself. Later on in my career I’d like to tackle things that maybe haven’t affected me personally, but I think while I’m still becoming a newfound member of the Louis Theroux and Stacey Dooley club!"

'Britain's Tourette's Mystery: Scarlett Moffatt Investigates' is available to stream now on All4.

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