Writer

I was quite lonely because I didn't have a boyfriend or many friends, so I started spending my weekends doing races. Then I progressed to a half-marathon and I actually enjoyed it!

I would encourage anyone to keep a pad of post-it notes by their bed and write down small, achievable goals and celebrate those successes and that will give you confidence to create bigger ones and achieve them.

I've had lots of opportunities to do things I'm passionate about and the things I care about and I feel that I can live in a world that doesn't really accept people that are different happily.

If I'm feeling down or depressed, working up a sweat will make me feel like I can really do this - that, in fact, I can do anything. It's like a therapy for me.

There are so many things that can happen to us in life where you think, 'I can't cope. I can't deal with it,' but you probably can.

I have been the beneficiary of donations in the form of human tissue and of a cornea which gave me sight when otherwise I would have none.

I still have difficult days when I lose hours to anxiety, feeling my throat swell and my mind race with paranoid thoughts. But - thanks in part to ongoing therapy - they're happening less and less.

But if I go for a run somewhere, I feel the benefits of the endorphin release.

I have learnt from Simon Cowell that anything is possible if you work hard enough and also that acts of kindness or giving somebody a few minutes of your time can have a massive impact on their life and their future.

My life is written about as though I've had this idyllic ending. But a marriage is something you have to work at.

It's one thing for your mum to tell you that you look OK, but she's your mum and she has to tell you you're beautiful. It's not the same as a stranger telling you.

It's true that looks do matter, but they won't give you a long, successful career or a happy marriage.

I've tried to stop reading comments online because if you believe everything, it makes you feel like rubbish.

I enjoy looking good and love experimenting with my hair colour. I've just gone from blonde to brunette, and keep looking in the mirror and not recognising myself!

Of course, I'd like to fall in love and get married one day - my brother has just got engaged and I'm thrilled for him - but I'm not obsessing about meeting someone.

None of my ambitions were serious as a girl. One week I wanted to be a lawyer, the next a binman.

I have an older brother and younger sister and for the first few years I was quite a tomboy. We lived in a small village in Hampshire and my brother and I would climb trees and make dens.

I was standing in the street with people walking past me and I could feel my face evaporating. I thought I was on fire as the acid ate at my skin.

I like to tell myself people look at me for all sorts of reasons. Maybe they're staring because they're shocked or maybe they recognise me from TV, or maybe they just like my shoes - especially women, because we all look at each other's clothes and hair.

Try to remember that every action you take in life will have a consequence and a reaction for other people, and that it's the same on social.