Claire Chitham: Living with chronic illness

Actor Claire Chitham and Anika talk about health, wellbeing, and living with a chronic illness. Claire was diagnosed with Crohn's disease as a teenager and talks about its impact on her life.

From Waverley to Aurora and beyond, Claire Chitham has graced our screens for decades now.

She's also recently written a book about wellness, detailing her discoveries while on her own health journey, after being diagnosed with Crohn's Disease as a teenager.

Watch the video version of the episode here

On Outrageous Fortune

"I think it was a reflection of a side of New Zealand that we all, a) recognize about ourselves, but b) actually love about ourselves. It's the grubby, basic side of you that we all have. And I think the thing that was wonderful about watching the Wests was that it was a family unit that was bound by blood above all else. So there was absolute, commitment and love there in a family way. But it was a group of people that were allowed to behave badly, and they lived outside of society's sort of norms, and they were allowed to break the rules, and we got to watch them break the rules."

"When I got Aurora, and I'd done a lot of theater, and I'd been doing some other things, and I'd become a Pilates trainer, because I was terrified I was never going to work in this country again. And I remember getting the audition and going, this one's mine."

"I remember the first scene that I shot was so difficult and embarrassing. Even though I was 26, which now sounds really young, I was surrounded by 18 year old lingerie models and I was having to model in the Hoochie Mama underwear contest. I was having to basically dance like a stripper on stage in front of a lot of people. And I remember the director, Mike Beesley, coming up to me at the end when we'd finished shooting that scene, and he was like, nobody's going to be thinking of Waverly now, babes."

On being diagnosed with Crohn's Disease

"I was, twelve. I was complaining of pains and my mum thought that I was starting to get my period so she had me on the Ponstan, which was an anti-inflammatory. I'd eat and then I can still intensely remember the feeling of the pain that would start to occur in my gut. And I would go away and crawl and lie down on my side in a bed with my knees pulled up to my chest and hide from people while the pain passed."…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details