A post shared by Evanna Lynch (@msevylynch) on Nov 2, 2018 at 1:21am PDT

AS YOU PROBABLY heard at some stage over the last few weeks, Louth actress Evanna Lynch has been doing very well on the American version of Dancing With the Stars. In fact, she’s currently in the semi-finals of the show. 

This morning, Ryan Tubridy checked in with the Harry Potter star to see how everything was going and Evanna told Ryan about how dancing can often be viewed as an illegitimate art form, because it’s not seen as a very “intellectual” activity.

Ryan eventually asked Evanna what advice she has for parents of children struggling with low self esteem, and what she would tell any young person with an eating disorder. Evanna told The Ryan Tubridy Show on RTÉ Radio 1:

It’s a constant battle. People want to say, “Oh, you’ve recovered!” and that’s it. They wanna put a bow on it and be done. 

However, the 27-year-old revealed that to this day, she still has her struggles. 

I still have those days. You recover from eating disorders, but the negative voice in your head – that’s something you’re always going to have to manage. 

Lynch said that the best way to quieten that voice in your head is to “choose to fall in love with something else.” 

You have to choose to put your energy into the things you love, rather than the things that you hate about yourself. 

Last month, in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Evanna said that the thing she focused on as a young teen was the Harry Potter series and reading (before she had even been cast as Luna Lovegood). 

Harry Potter was the only thing that could take my attention from that. 

Evanna acknowledged that “It’s really hard when you’re a teenager”, because you feel everything more intensely. As difficult as it may be when you’re young and in secondary school, the best thing you can do for yourself is to “surround yourself with positive people – people who make you feel good about yourself.” 

If you would like to speak confidentially about your concern that you or a friend could be struggling with an eating disorder, the contact number for the eating disorder helpline run by Bodywhys is 1890-200-444. 

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