Bake Off’s John Whaite details bulimia battle which took hold while studying at Manchester university

Former Bake Off winner and Strictly runner-up John Whaite has lifted the lid of his recent ADHD diagnosis - which explains much about his hyperactivity, previous alcohol abuse, eating disorder and perceived depression.

Today, looking fit and toned, he says he’s following the low carb keto diet and agrees that he still constantly worries about what he eats. His difficult relationship with food is charted in his memoir, Dancing On Eggshells, as bulimia took hold while he was studying law at Manchester University.

He sought refuge by baking everything from breads like focaccia and fougasse to Swiss rolls and macarons in his student digs and became gym-obsessed to offset his calorie intake. Sometimes he would eat all his bakes and then make himself sick, or dump them. Yet today he is viewing the obsessive behaviour in a different light.

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“It’s remarkable that since starting my ADHD medication four weeks ago I haven’t had one episode of binge eating. And when you look at studies on the link between ADHD and alcoholism, bulimia and binge eating, in America the medication that I’m on they use to treat binge eating disorder.

“So, I now think I’ve never had depression. I have ADHD burnout, where I get so physically and emotionally exhausted because of my hyperactivity that I can’t function." He adds: “But ADHD is not an excuse for my behaviour.

“ADHD is an infliction, but it is also now my responsibility. I have to deal with my behaviour and my impulses, because I now know what I am prone to do and how I am prone to act. I’m a 34-year-old man and I have to make sure I’m a grown-up about it.”

In his memoir, Whaite charts his