14 DAY TRIAL // Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts is perhaps most famous for her fiery red hair and porcelain skin but, as fans would know, she wasn’t always this fair-skinned. A few years back, Roberts was a tanorexic herself, making sure she worked daily on her fake tan, just like the other members of the band. The singer is now using this experience and, with the help of BBC and a brand-new show, will help raise awareness on the dangers of using tanning beds, the Daily Mail reports.
The first shot meant to promote the BBC3 show “What Would You Do to Get a Tan?” has already been released, and it shows Roberts with one half of her body badly burned. This is what actually happens to the skin after using tanning beds for longer periods of time, the first promo shot seems to be saying, and Roberts being so fair-skinned has absolutely nothing to do with it. Fake tanning in excess, or tanorexia, is the biggest cause for skin cancer, as health experts have also repeatedly stressed, but to little avail.
“Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts highlighting the dangers of the tanning industry in a new documentary. The 24-year-old will speak to health experts and dermatologists as she discovers the dangers of using sunbeds and faux tan in new show for BBC3. In a disturbing image to promote her new show ‘What Would You Do to Get a Tan?,’ half of the star’s body is digitally-manipulated to show the harm that excessive tanning can do to the skin,” the Mail writes of the new campaign and upcoming show.
“During Girls Aloud’s early years, the pale redhead used to spend hundreds of pounds on tanning products in an attempt to blend her tanned, glossy bandmates. After turning her back on bronzing and learning to love her pale complexion, the Cheshire-native is finally happier in her own skin. Roberts admits to be a ‘tanorexic’ in the past, but after having an epiphany three years ago, has embraced her alabaster skin,” the same publication goes on to say.
According to the star, at the time she was a tanorexic herself, she used her skin color to mask her insecurities and help her feel more at home with the other girls. It wasn’t until she realized that she only needed to be herself to be properly accepted that she came to see the error of her ways and, most importantly, the kind of risk she was putting herself at, she now says. Hopefully, this new documentary will help other women see tanning beds for what they are: a serious risk to their health.