This Morning viewers were left gobsmacked after a woman who developed a phobia of custard as a child bathed in the substance after being cured by the Speakmans.
Michelle, from Manchester, first got in touch with the morning show in January during a phone-in which went viral, promising she’d bathe in the yellow stuff if the show managed to cure her phobia.
The mere mention of the word ‘custard’ was enough to make her physically sick, and she could not say the word without retching before she met with life coaches Eva and Nick.
However, after exploring her trauma and revealing nuns would force-feed her lumpy custard at school, Michelle was able to address her issues and face her fear.
To make good on her promise, Michelle appeared on the show today and dipped herself in a bathtub filled with custard.
Transfixed viewers called the moment ‘peak British TV’ as others said that Michelle’s trauma was valid.
Michelle, from Manchester, who first got in touch with the morning show in January during s phone-in which went viral, promising she’d bathe in the yellow stuff if the show managed to cure her phobia
During a therapy sessions with the life coaches Eva and Nick Speakman, Michelle managed to get to the root of her traumatic experience with custard
The Speakmans met with Michelle following her This Morning January phone-in and took her to an Asda supermarket.
As they walked around the store, they revealed that a stall full of custard was awaiting Michelle at the end of the aisle.
Michelle was overwhelmed at the thought and began to retch, saying she was feeling nauseous.
This left Eva feeling particularly worried about helping Michelle through therapy.
At the start of her session with the Speakmans, Michelle could not stop dry heaving in a supermarket where they propped a stall full of custard for her
‘This is the first time that I’m going into therapy feeling incredibly apprehensive,’ she said.
‘I’ve just witness Michelle through up in a supermarket, and to take her from that to being able to event say the word is quite a challenge,’ she added.
During the session, the Speakmans and Michelle discussed the root cause of her issue with custard.
She explained that nuns would force her to eat lumpy custard in catholic school.
‘It just made me retch and I couldn’t eat it. The nuns would put my head back and pop it in my mouth,’ she said.
After being ‘cured’ by the Speakmans, Michelle made good on her promise to get into a bath of custard on the show
The custard-phobic dropped into the bath full of what she used to call ‘the yellow stuff’ on the show
Michelle was proud to show she has conquered her fear of custard for good on This Morning today
Hurrah! Michelle celebrated getting over her crippling fear of custard by hopping into a bathtub full of it
Thanks to Nick and Eva Speakmans, left and centre, Michelle was able to deal with her fear of the dessert
Proud Michelle could not believe she maned to get into the tub on the morning show today and covered her face in disbelief
However, Nick asked Michelle to put her dislike of custard into perspective.
‘I want you to look beyond that, I think you would have had it at home previously and it would have been okay,’ he told her.
It helped Micelle realise she did eat custard at her gran’s house before the unfortunate lumpy custard incident.
‘You always liked the yellow stuff and then you went to primary school and someone didn’t make it properly, so you didn’t like it. Makes sense,’ Nick told her.
Pushing the envelope even further, Michelle even dipped her finger into the bath and ate some of the custard
Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby looked on as Michelle got into the bath. Eva and Nick, right, applauded
However, he pushed Michelle to see that while the nuns’ behaviour was not acceptable, she was the one who had kept bullying herself into eating the lumpy custard and perpetuated her phobia for 43 years.
‘What the nuns did to you was wrong and there is no excuse for it. But, you said that that happened for weeks and when it stopped, who carried it on for 43 years,’ he told her.
Before her therapy session, Michelle could not even say the word custard, but after speaking to Eva and Nick, not only was she able to name it, she also tasted some.
The custard-phobic fought back tears as she took a spoonful of the yellow stuff in front of the life coaches.
The former custard-phobic revealed she even got a spoonful of custard tattooed on her arm that reads ‘custard lady’
Following her therapy session, Michelle appeared on the set of This Mornig with host Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.
‘For us that are watching it, you hear somebody retching ands you can’t help having a laugh, it’s human nature. However, it’s serious for you, when you hear the story behind it, I understand. To be free of that is huge,’ Holly told her.
‘Oh yeah, I’ve never had trifle, and it looks so lovely,’ Michelle said.
‘I used to say with my gran and that gave me my first custard with sponge pudding, I forgot about all that memory,’ she explained.
‘When you called us up, could you imagine that would get from that to this,’ he said, pointing to the bath.
‘Walking down the aisle in Asda, no, absolutely not,’ Michelle said.
Phil revealed Michelle even got a tattoo on her arm of a spoon of custard reading ‘custard lady.’
Eva Speakman admitted she could not believe how far Michelle has come.
‘Nobody had vomited multiple times in front of us but Michelle did that and here she is,’ she said.
From fearing custard to bathing in it! Michelle made good on the promise she made during the January phone-in
Michelle even tasted some of the custard in the bath, something she couldn’t do for 43 years due to her fear
Michelle explained his dad will probably be the most surprised to see her bathing in custard because he had to take her out of school when the nuns kept force feeding her custard.
The incredible moment left viewers lost for words. Some said it was ‘peak British TV’ while others said they hope Michelle will be able to enjoy custard from now on.
‘This is peak British TV, this better be on the rewind at the end of the year,’ one said.
‘A woman on #thismorning has a fear of custard imagine Face screaming in fear I’d be gutted love custard,’ another said.
‘Love to Michelle, I hope you enjoy custard again,’ another said.
‘Everyone laughing at Michelle having a phobia of custard. Then to find out she had legit trauma over it due to an abusive nun. Psychological traumas, no matter the root if it, are legit,’ one said.
‘I feel so bad for her as she clearly has trauma but just watching her saying the word custard whilst crying is so hard to take seriously,’ another wrote.
Michelle went viral in January during a This Morning phone-in with the Speakmans.
Viewers said the moment was ‘peak British TV; while others noted Michelle trauma was legitimate
The sound of her retching particularly made Phil laugh during the segment.
‘I can’t even say it. It’s vile. It makes me skin crawl, it makes me retch, the thought of it, the look of it, the colour of it, the smell of it,’ she said during the phone in at the time.
She only called custard ‘the yellow stuff you put on apple pies’.
‘We was forced to eat it, and it wasn’t the best of the stuff when I was younger. It was lumpy,’ she said before dry heaving again. ‘If you can get me over this fear, I promise you, I’ll have a bath in it!’
‘This might seem a little bit odd – I see you and the custard as equal victims here,’ Eva said. ‘You and the yellow stuff are on the same team here because you’re both victims of that person that forced you to eat it in the first place. You think badly of it and it did nothing wrong.’