Evanna Lynch hits back at Steve Allen after his remarks about Tilly Ramsay's size while on Lorraine

Evanna Lynch has hit back at the comments made by Steve Allen on LBC calling Tilly Ramsay a ‘chubby little thing’ while making an appearance on Lorraine on Wednesday morning. 

The 30-year-old actress, who played Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter franchise, was promoting her book The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting on the morning show which details her eating disorder. 

She said of the remarks: ‘Stop commenting on peoples’ appearances, it’s not their business […] there’s just so much more to women, there’s so much more to people. 

Speaking out: Evanna Lynch, 30, hit back at the comments made by Steve Allen on LBC calling Tilly Ramsay a ‘chubby little thing’ while making an appearance on Lorraine on Wednesday

‘It’s very reductive and that woman has so much more to her and she’s showing so much more. Why is he focusing on that?’   

Tilly, who is the daughter of TV chef Gordon Ramsay, shared a lengthy statement on Instagram in which she expressed her hurt and shock at having her appearance criticised ‘by a 67-year-old man on national radio’.  

In the post, Tilly revealed that she was ‘learning to accept’ herself but had still been left ‘hurt’ by the shocking remarks.  

Alongside the statement she shared a soundbite from Steve’s show, in which he read out a comment from a listener alerting him to the fact Tilly was taking part in Celebrity MasterChef Australia. 

Steve – who is on air between 4am and 7am – then remarked: ‘Is she? Well, she can’t blimming well dance!

Hitting back: She said: ‘Stop commenting on peoples’ appearances, it’s not their business […] there’s just so much more to women, there’s so much more to people’; Tilly pictured 2021 

Shocking: Steve (pictured in March) read out a comment from a listener alerting him to the fact Tilly was taking part in Celebrity MasterChef Australia

Shock: In the post, Tilly, 19, revealed that she was ‘learning to accept’ herself but had still been left ‘hurt’ by the shocking remarks

‘I’m bored of her already. She’s a chubby little thing isn’t she. Have you noticed? Probably her dad’s cooking I should imagine.’

The CBBC presenter is competing on Strictly with professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin and is simultaneously featuring on the pre-recorded Celebrity MasterChef Australia. 

LBC’s Julia Hartley-Brewer has come out to support Steve’s comments saying: ‘The issue is weight and teenage girls and obesity is a concern to doctors.’

She said during a video call interview on This Morning: ‘Steve Allen is entitled to say what they want to say. Obviously, a personal dig isn’t nice’.

Viewers took to Twitter to hit back at Julia, calling for people to ‘be kind.’  

Evanna continued: ‘I do also believe that saying chubby as a derogatory word or fat or whatever, it’s just a size. We all have to get over our fat phobia, it’s not the worst thing you can be.’

To which Lorraine agreed: ‘You’re just taking up a wee bit more space in the world, that’s all it is.’   

Evanna added: ‘I really believe your body changes when your life changes. When I was writing my book, I gained weight and that’s fine. That’s where I am. I’m sitting at a desk and next year I will be out and about doing stuff, and my body will change again.

Sad: Evanna went on: ‘It’s very reductive and that woman has so much more to her and she’s showing so much more. Why is he focusing on that?’

Honest: Evanna continued: ‘I do also believe that saying chubby as a derogatory word or fat or whatever, it’s just a size. We all have to get over our fat phobia, it’s not the worst thing you can be’

Controversial: Julia Hartley Brewer has defended LBC’s Steve Allen saying that he was ‘entitled’ to call Strictly Come Dancing star Tilly a ‘chubby little thing’ on his show

‘We have to stop expecting our bodies to stay the same and stay frozen in time. It’s kind of like sucking the life out of yourself.’  

Dr Alex George has also supported the teen by writing an open letter to LBC Radio after the personal comments made by Steve. 

Former Love Island star Alex, 30, told LBC in his letter that he was ‘horrified’ by the remarks and highlighted: ‘The discussion about a young person’s weight live on air is not acceptable.’

Strictly star Tilly was quick to thank Alex for his support, commenting beneath his letter – shared on Instagram – ‘Thank you Alex for your support and kindness.’ 

He wrote: ‘I am absolutely horrified by these remarks. It is widely recognised just how damaging such comments about someone’s weight are and the effect they can have on an individual’s mental health. 

The truth: She went on: ‘We have to stop expecting our bodies to stay the same and stay frozen in time. It’s kind of like sucking the life out of yourself’

Support: Dr Alex George has also supported the teen by writing an open letter to LBC Radio after the personal comments made by Steve

Evanna, who in the past has spoken openly about her anorexia battle which at times had left her hospitalised, told how it was important to not gloss over her tough times in the memoir and to be as honest as she can so as to spark meaningful conversations. 

The book discusses her younger struggles with anorexia, and Evanna explained: ‘I do really believe in really talking about the darkness. 

‘We can be too quick to talk about the “I’m good, I’m happy, everything’s positive now.” And I just don’t think life’s like that. Life doesn’t suddenly get happy and everything’s okay. So it’s a bit of a rollercoaster of a book, but that’s life.’   

Evanna described her experience the condition as an ‘addiction’ on the show. 

She said: ‘I see it as an addiction. You know, you eat food every day, you have to have a balanced relationship with it and I really think you can.

Battle: Evanna, who in the past has spoken openly about her anorexia which at times had left her hospitalised, told how it was important to not gloss over her tough times in the memoir

‘This idea that my therapist shared is that we upgrade our problems, you have to find better coping mechanisms because that’s all these eating disorders are – they’re coping mechanisms. 

‘I think you graduate to other things that give you a purpose and I think you gradually learn how to make them better for you.’ 

Evanna wanted to convey to readers that recovery isn’t linear, and that it can manifest itself in many ways.  

She said: ‘I’m trying to show that recovery isn’t neat. I think a lot of people think it ends in physical recovery and I’m trying to show that even though things were great professionally and on the surface, I still had quite a toxic mindset.

‘Even when you recover from an eating disorder, you can still have that addiction to negativity and to me that’s also an addiction to feeling safe – you don’t want anything to hurt you or to come in and change things. 

‘It’s like not wanting to be vulnerable, really… You have to learn to make really positive choices. I now know how to choose positive people and I don’t search out the meanness and I just don’t indiscriminately believe it.’

Lorraine and Evanna also chatted about her experience with JK Rowling, and it was revealed that she wrote to her as a child before starring in the films.   

Evanna shared: ‘When I think of that I think, that’s real magic!… It felt like a soul match with [Luna], if that makes sense.’     

Honest: Evanna described her experience the condition as an ‘addiction’ on the show 

Magic: Lorraine and Evanna also chatted about her experience with JK Rowling, and it was revealed that she wrote to her as a child before starring in the films; pictured 2013 

The apperance comes after Evanna recently spoke in an interview with E! about her road to recovery saying:  ‘I don’t have an eating disorder at all anymore. It’s been years of eating like a normal, healthy person and having balanced habits. And it’s different – somebody asked me recently, “Oh, is it similar to alcoholism, where you’re always going to have to avoid it?”

‘And it’s like, well, no, because you have to eat, you have to do it. And you have to learn how to do it in a functional way. So, I do believe you can properly recover and move on. But I think the healing process continues.’ 

She said: ‘You want to be honest, you know? I don’t want to just say, “Everything’s cool now, happier, I’ve fixed all these weird issues.” So, I had to find a way that I could be honest about where I’m at, but be positive and leave people with a warm, inspired feeling.’ 

Interview: Evanna has discussed her decision to share her anorexia story in her new book which explores her recovery both physically and mentally, with the star hoping her honesty opens conversations about physical and mental health (pictured in 2018)