The Truth Behind YouTube Star Zoella’s Ghostwriter Story Is Heartbreaking

f you’re a fan of Zoe Sugg, AKA YouTube juggernaut Zoella, you’ll have heard about the backlash she received after it was revealed she used an editorial consultant to help create her first book Girl Online. A lot (re: majority) of loyal fans turned on her and accused her of ghostwriting (which has never quite gone away) but now Zoella has spoken out about how hard this really was on her…

In a new interview with UK Cosmopolitan (she’s on the cover looking AMAZING too FYI) Zoella opens up about how traumatic the hate was:

“It was horrible. I worked really hard on the book and it was all me – the characters, the story. I felt like I was being attacked and I was like, ‘I’m going to shut my laptop, and I can’t be bothered with this.’ It knocked my confidence massively. When it came round to the second book, I felt I couldn’t and that it had all been ruined. It took a lot for me to put that behind me and move forward.”

The worst part is it made her struggle with anxiety even worse: “I have had anxiety since before I started doing this,” she explains.

But there is a silver lining! Zoe says this negative experience taught her to really look after her mental health like she would her body: “I think it changes and adapts with your life. I have a therapist who I speak to every week without fail and that’s been the biggest help because I’m now doing things that I never thought I’d be able to do. I’m one of those people who thinks everyone should have a therapist. People go to the gym, they eat healthily and visit the hairdressers but no one really looks after their mind.”

If you or a friend is struggling with similar feelings, there is help at hand. You can speak confidentially to a trained counsellor 24 hours a day at headspace.org.au or Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800.