Triumph for ‘Skeletor’

A WOMAN labelled “Skeletor” as she fought anorexia is competing in a modelling competition after battling back to health.

Rebecca Hands, 21, of Southend, Essex, weighed just four stone at the height of her illness.

She spent most of her school years in and out of hospital as she survived on just 120 calories a day — a fraction of the recommended intake of just under 2,000.

Now back to a “healthy weight”, she is looking to rebuild her life and is in the finals of a modelling competition.

She is one of 25 contestants, whittled down from 170, competing to become Miss Essex FM 2008, which will be judged next month.

“I never thought I would have the confidence to strut down the catwalk dressed in a bikini — it’s something that wouldn’t have entered my head,” she said.

“But getting through to the final, and even having the courage to enter the contest, has given me the confidence I need.

She is hoping to get a job or study at college in the near future. Her parents, Debbie, 50, and Kevin, 58, said they were proud of their daughter’s progress.