First Dates contestant, 24, was told she should ‘kill herself’ because of her rare skin condition and hasn’t dated for FIVE YEARS
Bianca, from Bradford, hasn't been on a date since she was 18 - after cruel reactions to her keloid scars knocked her confidence
A FIRST Dates contestant who has been single five years has revealed she was told to "kill herself" because of her rare skin condition.
Bianca, from Bradford, hasn't been on a date since she was 18 - after her keoild scars knocked her confidence.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun Online, the 24-year-old said: "Someone I used to know told me to kill myself because I had a skin condition.
"He was constantly ringing my phone and he said he wouldn't leave me alone until I kill myself, because I’m ugly because I’ve got a skin condition. That was something that stuck with me."
Bianca, whose date with entertainer Teza airs on Monday, was just 13 when she developed the rare condition where her acne scars had been.
She now has 20 raised lumps on both sides of her jawline, the top of her back and the middle of her chest.
The beauty ambassador, who works in Debenhams, said: "It knocked my confidence, I feel like I’m constantly covering them up or trying to hide them.
"There were days when if I walked down the street I would put my hand in front of my face so people wouldn’t see the scars, or I’d wear a scarf in summer.
"But this year I’m trying to accept myself for who I am, and accept that I’ve got them and they possibly will never go."
Bianca gets shooting pains from her scars, which she says "feel like someone’s injecting me constantly with a needle".
She added: "They itch on a daily basis, and sometimes if it’s very cold or very warm outside, they tend to burn.
"So that’s why I keep them covered as well, not just for my self esteem but to protect them."
What are keloid scars?
Some scars grow lumpier and larger than the wound they're healing - this is called keloid scarring.
Anyone can get keloid scars, but they're more common in people with dark skin.
When the skin is broken - by a cut, bite, scratch, burn, acne or piercing - the body produces more of a protein called collagen.
Collagen gathers around the damaged skin and helps the wound seal over.
This would normally fade over time but, with keloids, the scars keep growing, invade healthy skin and become bigger than the original wound.
They're most common on the upper chest, shoulders, head, earlobes and neck.
Experts don't fully understand why keloid scarring happens - but they're not contagious or cancerous.
There's more info available on the .
Bianca added: "The scars are not easy to hide. A few people say they can’t see them on my face.
"But then there are people who point them out and will be like ‘eugh, what’s that on your face?’
"It hasn’t been easy. It’s the constant staring, I feel like they think I’m an alien or something.
"It’s mainly guys who will say something like ‘what’s that on your face? What’s that on your back?’
"Sometimes I feel like I like to try to boost my confidence up again, so I’ll cover my chest but have my back out.
"Then when someone does say something to me about my scars, that’s when my confidence drops again."
Bianca, who was open about her skin condition on her Tinder bio, was terrified about going on a blind date.
She said: "I feel like I have to tell somebody before I meet them, although I shouldn’t really have to explain myself and what they are.
"But if someone’s going to meet me, I don’t want them to be like ‘eugh what’s that?’ because that would be a put-off.
"I haven’t really been on dates since I was 18. My confidence was quite low and I couldn’t be bothered to get into situations explaining about them.
"I couldn’t really talk about them before, I used to cry quite a lot because it was different and I didn’t know how to accept it.
"It was hard to explain what they are. That’s why I try and talk to people over social media, it’s easier to explain than in person.
"With a blind date you’ve never seen your date before, and they don’t know what you look like. So I didn’t have that chance to explain how I got them."
MOST READ IN FABULOUS
Bianca wore a black crop top, which covered her scars, and high waisted trousers on her date.
She added: "I always wear make-up but I made sure I put it on the scars on my face, to make sure it wasn’t as red and wasn’t as noticeable.
"This year I’m trying to accept myself more and going on First Dates, with it being on TV, it feels like I’m not hiding anymore."
First Dates viewers slammed this man for calling his date 'fat' in a cringe conversation earlier this week.
While fans were shocked as Melinda Messenger awkwardly discovered her date photographed her wedding on the Celebrity version.
First Dates series 11 starts on Monday at 10pm on Channel 4.