Strictly's Tess Daly on horror of friends' drug use and anorexia during modelling days

Strictly Come Dancing host Tess Daly has previously spoken about her modelling career and the devastating impact drugs and anorexia had on her friends in the fashion industry

Perched in a luxurious Tokyo bar with a stunning view of the city skyline, Tess Daly reminisced about her journey from a quiet Derbyshire village to the cusp of a lucrative modelling career during a 2013 interview. As a teenager, she was far from the confident presenter we know today, hosting BBC's Strictly Come Dancing.

At a high-end fashion event, surrounded by poised and beautiful individuals, Tess felt something was off. It wasn't until she noticed the empty stares and hollow expressions that she realized the extent of the industry's dark secret: widespread drug abuse.

In the decade-old interview, by the Daily Record, Tess recalled: "I remember seeing supermodels hand-in-hand heading to the toilets all the time. There were times when I'd go to clubs, and models would offer me drugs. I saw a lot of it."

As a mother of two daughters, Phoebe (19), who was seven at the time of the interview, and Amber (14), who was three, Tess shared that she often worried about the potential dangers they may face. She candidly shared the intense pressure she faced to indulge in drugs and her uncertainty about how to navigate it.

In the past, some say using substances like cocaine seemed almost necessary to fit in, especially with modelling agents who held significant power over one's career.

Tess shared: "I was like, 'Hang on a bit, what do we do here in this situation?', because you need your agent on your side and to like you as a friend and not just another girl on their books. When they're putting you up for the great jobs, you want to be at the forefront of their mind. You need to socialise with them because if you do, you get the work."

However, Tess stood firm and never considered going down that self-destructive path. She said: "I was never tempted to go through the bathroom door and do it.

It wasn't what I was about and, if I did, I knew it was a rocky road and would end in tears. " Some girls could get away with that but for me it would have spelled disaster."

Many other models fell prey to the pressures. Time and time again, Tess would arrive at early-morning shoots and be shocked by the gaunt faces. She shared: "The girls didn't look great on it. I couldn't understand how they expected to turn up for work at 7am and look fresh-faced when they'd been up all night partying."

Anorexia was also a constant presence in the fitting-rooms and Tess was left heartbroken, but ultimately helpless, when some of her closest friends were struck by the eating disorder.

She recounted: "I had a couple of flatmates who just simply wouldn't eat and I had never come across that before. It was hugely upsetting to witness someone destroying themselves and not being able to change their mind. I felt so helpless. They were these level-headed, beautiful, down-to-earth, intelligent girls but they just wouldn't eat.

"It just didn't make sense as they were slowly killing themselves. I did what I could to help but there's only so much you can do because it's a disease that needs to be treated."

Tess, hailing from Birch Vale, a quaint village in Derbyshire, grew up with her parents Vivian and Sylvia, who worked tirelessly at a textile factory, instilling robust values in their children. Tess shared: "Just before I started A-levels, I got spotted and the seed was planted. The idea of foreign travel seemed exotic as I had only been abroad once in my life on a school skiing trip. My mum and dad were very against it at the beginning they were petrified and I fought them about it. But ultimately, and reluctantly, they allowed me to go."

Despite facing financial challenges, especially in costly Japan, she fully embraced the nomadic model lifestyle, leading to a flood of work opportunities.

Tess, who appeared in iconic music videos for 80s hitmakers Duran Duran and The Beloved's 1993 track Sweet Harmony, has opened up about her journey in the modelling world. Reflecting on her career surge, she remarked, "I suddenly got magazine covers, TV commercials and advertising campaigns. Finally, after two years, I could show my mum and dad that modelling was lucrative."

Recounting her globetrotting adventures, Tess added, "I moved to Paris, London, then New York and met some incredible people."

The former model even touched upon her encounters with the rich and famous: "Sometimes you had to pinch yourself and ask, 'What's a girl from the Peak District doing here?'"