Francesca Manzini She became famous for her funny impersonations, her ready wit, and her smile that we could describe as infectious. It is no coincidence that she was reconfirmed as leader Remove the messages alongside Gerry Scotti, with whom he now forms one of the most popular presenter couples on Antonio Ricci's satirical news program. But in the face of a radiant present lies a Past marked by eating disorders and of difficulties that Manzini always spoke about unequivocally. A way to share a part of yourself, but also for the noblest goal: helping others.
Francesca Manzini, the pain of her parents' separation
It is not the first time that Francesca Manzini has spoken about this past, which perhaps cannot be described as tragic. One of the last opportunities was the interview with Caterina Balivo in the lecture La Volta Buona last September, now she has returned to do it in the columns of the weekly newspaper Gente.
Puberty was not easy for Manzini as she had to deal with her parents' separation at a young age. Arguments had become the norm and she tried to erase her pain and fill the void with food. That's how eating disorders work, they always start with one “psychological trauma”as she herself explained, from “the feeling of not being loved”.
“My father, a Lazio manager, was constantly away or distracted from work and my mother was too busy with her marital problems to look after me. And in the beginning, I ate something I always enjoyed without realizing that food became a way to fill a void. At 15 I weighed 72 kilos, but over time I reached 92 kilos“, he said in the interview.
Francesca Manzini and eating disorders
From that moment on, the relationship with food is no longer healthy and another “monster”, sometimes underestimated, has contributed to the deterioration of the situation: that mobbing. The feeling that her classmates were hurling harsh words at her caused her to be unresponsive and “numb.” “I think I started imitating other people's voices because I couldn't hear mine,” he explained. It was my body that first gained weight and then lost weight. It said: “Look at me, I’m letting myself die.”“. Then the final straw that broke the camel's back: “One evening my father said to me: 'It's like an amphora!'”.
From there the first route with a Nutritionist which presented her with a fait accompli: she was risking diabetes. And that only further burdened her already fragile mind and insecurities, making her think intensely about pain and illness. A dark and cold vortex that gradually drove her towards anorexia: “With the diet I started to eat less and less and felt less and less hungry. I was terrified of diabetes and without realizing it, I fell into anorexia. I lost 25 kilos in eight months, reached a weight of 47 kilos and am 1.70 meters tall. (…) I was always cold, I was tired, I suffered from migraines, my head was spinning, the light bothered me, so much so that I slept with sunglasses on.
The rebirth of Francesca Manzini between faith and psychotherapy
Then something happened in this life “marked by excesses,” as she herself called it bulimia. How do we recover from all this? How can you regain control of yourself and move forward instead of continuing to let yourself fall into this void?
For the actress and impersonator, her “strong survival instinct” had a positive effect, as did the “innate sense of humor” that always characterized her, perhaps as a reaction to what was happening to her. “I stopped just before the point of no return,” she admitted, describing how she was helped on the one hand spiritual supporton the other hand, a path of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy that was taken after the cancer diagnosis shortly before the pandemic.
It seems paradoxical, but another tragic event was the urge to go back up: “It made me want to live again. (…) I understood that eating disorders can never be cured, that relapses are common, but now I can control them. (…) Every day is an achievement“. All thanks to her own strength, but also the invaluable support of her friend Marco Scimia, who was close to her during her recovery journey.