Rebecca Adlington endured years of cruel taunts over her appearance and the vicious trolling left a lasting impact on her mental health. The BBC Sports presenter and Olympic gold medallist has today received support from fans after revealing she'd been diagnosed with coeliac disease – a condition that affects around one in 100 people in the UK. In a video shared on Coeliac UK's Instagram page, the 36-year-old explained how she was "newly diagnosed" and discussed the importance of gluten-free prescriptions for people managing the condition. In response, fans of the swimmer flooded the comments with support for Rebecca. "So good to have someone famous helping to raise awareness. Well done Becky," wrote one. "Awesome to have @beckadlington backing the campaign! What a role model! Thank you Becky," another added. Rebecca's announcement has been met with kindness, but in the past she's suffered a wave of cruel bullying online. It comes 10 years after she reportedly underwent cosmetic surgery to have her nose reduced in size and a bump removed , having previously endured years of vile torment. In 2014, the Celebrity MasterChef star allegedly underwent surgery at a top Harley Street clinic, having previously opened up about hating her looks. The sportswoman has never confirmed whether she got the procedure done, but told the Daily Mail: "If somebody else wants to know [that], well tough luck. It's my life. Loads of women have loads of things that they do – like a Kim Kardashian or whatever – but I just think if you open yourself up in that way, there's a lot more that happens." In 2012, comedian Frankie Boyle came under pressure to apologise to the -Olympic star after sparking outrage on social media after writing a cruel tweet that read: "I worry that Rebecca -Adlington will have an unfair -advantage in the swimming by -possessing a dolphin's face." Within minutes, some social media users demanded that he apologise to the swimmer. Frankie removed the message without explanation. David Walliams came to -Rebecca's defence, saying: “I have met and spoken on the phone to Rebecca. She is a beautiful woman, inside and out. It is disappointing that anyone would want to be mean about her appearance. Rebecca's an absolute inspiration, and a really lovely lady." While starring on I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2013, the gold medal Olympian broke down in tears over her appearance as she spoke to soap star Lucy Pargeter . During a conversation, Lucy explained that she believed the pressure on young girls to look a certain way made her "ill" when she was younger. She said: "And it's also making me very, very insecure that I have to look a certain way. For me, I was an athlete, I wasn't trying to be a model, but pretty much every single week on Twitter I get somebody commenting on the way I look." The swimmer was comforted by her fellow campmates, with EastEnders ’ Laila Morse telling her that she was beautiful. Meanwhile, speaking to the Daily Mail following her stint in the jungle, Rebecca discussed the hurtful comments she received regarding her appearance. "Every day I look in the mirror and go, 'God, I'm not pretty, I've got a very big nose. That\s what most of the negative comments on Twitter are about – my nose," she explained. "People say, 'Oh God you look like a dolphin,' or 'I didn't realise they let whales into the Olympics, but at least you should be able to swim faster with a nose like that.” Months later, in April 2014, Rebecca addressed her rumoured nose job for the first time. "If somebody else wants to know [that], well tough luck,” she told the publication. "It's my life. Loads of women have loads of things that they do – like a Kim Kardashian or whatever – but I just think if you open yourself up in that way, there’s a lot more that happens.” She also revealed that while trolling had once made her "burst into tears", maturing had helped her realise that the people making the comments were strangers who'd never spoken to her. "I'm definitely happier with how I look now," she added. "But I wouldn't necessarily say happy. I think you still always see the same thing when you look in the mirror. A lot of people tell me that you get more comfortable with yourself with age and obviously I’ve still got a lot of growing up to do." More recently, Rebecca, who was awarded an OBE in the 2009 New Year Honours list, spoke to Judy Murray in 2021 about being a woman in the public eye. "To be honest I didn't realise [the impact] until I'd fully retired from swimming. You're in such a bubble in sport, when you're in it you just live and breathe performance. I was able to bat things off a lot more because I was performance driven," she said on Sky Sports' docuseries Driving Force . "I saw a therapist last year and it wasn't until I sat down with somebody external, and talked to them fully, that they said they could help to adjust things. I openly say that therapy is the best decision that I've ever made."