Alix Small, the Scottish fitness champion who said bodybuilding helped her recover from anorexia, has died aged 26. The two-time IFBB Pro League winner and Olympia competitor was reported dead on Sunday 8 November 2026. Her mother and best friend passed on the news.

No cause of death has been made public, and the circumstances around her death are unclear. There is currently no publicly available information establishing whether her history of anorexia was related to her death. Her passing has also renewed attention to the serious health risks associated with eating disorders and the complexities of long-term recovery.

Small's Fight With Anorexia

Small said her anorexia began when she was 15. She said bodybuilding shifted her focus from how she looked to how strong she could get. She credited the sport with helping her recover.

Later, she spent months building size on purpose. For someone with her history, that was a hard task, and she spoke about the difficulty openly.

Small earned her IFBB pro card at 19 and won the 2021 Europa Pro Championships in Spain. Her 2022 Mr. Big Evolution Pro win in Portugal earned another Olympia invite. She withdrew because of health issues and never competed as a pro again.

The nature of those health issues has not been disclosed. Fellow IFBB pro Phoebe Goodwin described Small as funny, caring and thoughtful. Many fans say her honesty about eating disorders reached people facing the same struggle.

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What Experts Say About Anorexia

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) describes anorexia nervosa as a significant and persistent reduction in food intake that leads to extremely low body weight. It also involves a distorted body image and an intense fear of gaining weight.

Mayo Clinic says anorexia has the second-highest death rate of any mental illness, behind only opioid overdoses. It adds that death can happen suddenly, even in people who are not visibly underweight.

Irregular heart rhythms and electrolyte imbalances can also lead to death. Anorexia is treatable, though people with the illness often do not see how serious their symptoms are.

Johns Hopkins Medicine says the most common age of onset is between 12 and 25. Small said her illness began at 15, within that range. Survey data put the median age of onset for both anorexia and bulimia at 18.

In US adults, lifetime prevalence of anorexia is 0.6 per cent, and it is three times higher in females than males, at 0.9 per cent against 0.3 per cent. More than half of those with anorexia, 56.2 per cent, also met criteria for another core mental disorder.

For anorexia, treatment centres on nutritional rehabilitation to normalise weight and eating behaviour. Psychotherapy also helps manage difficult emotions and anxieties, and it aims to prevent relapse.

Bulimia and the Road to Recovery

Although Small spoke about anorexia, the two conditions share key features, as both involve an overvalued drive for thinness and disturbed eating behaviour. Bulimia is described as binge eating followed by behaviour that makes up for the binge.

Unlike anorexia, people with bulimia can fall within the normal weight range, yet they often fear gaining weight. Cleveland Clinic warns that bulimia can cause serious, even life-threatening, complications, including abnormal heart rhythm.

Cognitive-behavioural therapy is the best psychological treatment for bulimia. Between 50 and 75 per cent of patients with anorexia eventually recover.

Recovery from bulimia is possible but takes time, and relapses can happen. A relapse is not a judgement of who a person is, and care teams can adjust treatment plans.

Anyone who thinks they have an eating disorder is urged to get help. A worried loved one should urge that person to see a healthcare professional, and early treatment leads to the best outcomes.

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