Jade Thirlwall has revealed she suffered from an eating disorder after being targeted by racist bullies at school.

The Little Mix star, 28, makes the admission in her upcoming book Female Lead: We Rise By Lifting Others.

Jade grew up in South Shields, the daughter of a white father and a mother of Yemeni and Egyptian blood.

Her maternal Grandfather was a guiding light in her life and encouraged her to embrace who she was.

In an extract from her book, obtained by MailOnline, Jade recalls: “My Grandad was keen on celebrating our heritage and cooking Yemeni food. We lived next door to the mosque and 35 different languages were spoken at school.

“I always felt loved and protected growing up, especially by my Grandad, who was a beautiful person.

“The minute I went to secondary school things changed. I was the only person from my primary school who went to my predominantly white Catholic secondary and immeadiately I had no friends and was an easy target.

“During my secondary years, there was a lot of bullying, my Grandad passed away, and I developed an eating disorder.”

As a teenager, the Wings hit-maker battled with anorexia for five years.

Reflecting on that time, she said: “If I could, I’d tell my teenage self to stop worrying. Being in a space where I was bullied for my skin colour, my ethnicity, my heritage, I battled over where I was meant to belong.

“I wish that I had beeb able to shake myself and say, ‘Just be yourself. That wins every time.’”