TOWIE’s Sam Faiers: “I pulled my eyelashes out because I thought I’d get a pony”

We’ve all made wishes when we were younger – after blowing out candles, flipping a coin down a well, or wishing on a rainbow – but when Sam Faiers was little, she’d make a wish by PULLING OUT HER EYELASHES. Our eyes are watering at the thought of it.

She was left with hardly any lashes, and still hasn’t kicked the habit, so no wonder false lashes have been Sam’s saviour since she was 16.

heat caught up with her at Sanderson London for the launch of her first false eyelash range – Lashes By Samantha. Sam told us: “It started when I was about eight years old and it became like a compulsive disorder [called Trichotillomania].”

She said: “My step-sister said if you pull out your eyelash and you make a wish it will come true. And that's how ridiculous it was. When I'd done that it became a habit then I was doing it subconsciously in my sleep. It's bizarre. I don't know what I was wishing for, a pony, it was silly – I can't even imagine what it was. Now I do it for a comfort thing, when I'm watching telly I find myself doing it.”

She’s had hypnotherapy, which worked and her eyelashes eventually grew back, so it’s something that Sam is trying to live with.

She said: “I've tried everything to fix it. It doesn't really bother me and I know it should because I'm so enthusiastic about health and beauty but it doesn't really bother me that much. I wear lashes all the time, I will leave the house without them but on nights out I will always wear lashes.”

Lashes By Samantha are stocked in Very.co.uk and Littlewoods.co.uk