DANCING ON EGGSHELLS

We come for the glitter but instead we get the grit in stories told with insight tenderness and joy Russell T Davies With a foreword by Steph McGovern I never thought I d write a memoir I never thought I d do a lot of the things I have done in my thirty four years but life has a wonderful way of surprising us Well known as the winner of the third series of The Great British Bake Off and runner up of Strictly Come Dancing with his same sex dance partner Johannes Radebe John Whaite s personal story is a complicated narrative of contradictions highs and lows told with tenderness joy insight and wit but also unflinching honesty A shy little boy from rural Lancashire who was sacred to sleep alone and danced a little too gay at family weddings he was also an unruly teen who shaved a checkerboard pattern into his hair and refused to conform From childhood his life has revolved around food his parents owned a fish and chip shop where John worked in the back peeling potatoes but for long periods he has been haunted by bulimia and body dysmorphia and not a day goes by when he doesn t worry about what or how much he eats He achieved TV fame but then seemingly wilfully chose to self destruct before finding the strength to pull back when he wo