Victoria Wood spent years battling demons after being 'neglected' in childhood, reveal loved ones in eye-opening new documentary

She was one of the UK's most beloved comedians, who was known for her razor-sharp wit and larger-than-life persona. 

Yet away from the cameras, Victoria Wood spent years battling insecurities about her weight and attempting to overcome her natural shyness after being 'neglected' as a child. 

Now, 10 years on from Victoria's death from oesophageal cancer, the late comic's school friends have spoken out about her teenage years in Becoming Victoria Wood, a 90-minute film that opened in cinemas last month and aired on U&Gold channel on Thursday.

She was the youngest of four siblings, raised by 'frustrated' father Stanley, who had stifled his ambitions of being a playwright in order to provide for his family; and 'depressed' mother Nellie, who had put her studies on hold to raise her children. 

Victoria previously hinted at her unhappy childhood in interviews, stating that she was a 'mess and a misfit' in her teenage years, while claiming: 'I was very lazy, that was the problem. That was all my fault, I just didn't work hard enough.' 

Yet Victoria's schoolmates from Bury Grammar School for Girls have revealed that problems at home may well have contributed to her unhappiness and dip in grades. 

Childhood friend Lesley Schatzberger agreed that Victoria 'didn't pull out the stops with things she wasn't interested in doing,' yet noted: 'she came from what felt to me must have been an ununified family. 

'I didn't ever know her parents which was really weird, certainly for school friends. 

'When we would take her home after she'd been at my home for tea, she would want to be dropped off on the hill and she'd walk up to the house by herself. 

'There didn't seem to be a family context for Vicky, it was just Vicky.' 

Fellow school friend Anne Sweeney added: 'She was always quite scruffy and not very conformist. She had sort of droopy socks and a sort of slouch. 

'She just didn't fit in and her way of dealing with that was to not care. She had an independent demeanour but I think really she was very shy.'

Anne was the only school friend who was invited over to Victoria's house, which she described as 'windswept and bleak.' 

'There would be no parents or anybody cooking tea,' Anne recalled. 'I got a feeling that she'd get home, go to her room and hibernated in there.' 

Lesley added: 'I think she was neglected really, looking back at her.'

By her own admission, Victoria turned to comfort eating while left alone in her family home. 

She said previously: 'I used to bring food in and that was it. I used to eat from the minute I got out school to when I went to bed. We were just on our own...

'My mother didn't really want to talk and my father, when he wasn't working, he was in the house writing and their interests were not in their children really.' 

Victoria had a complicated relationship with her mother even in adulthood, saying in 1994: 'My father used to talk about me to strangers at the bus stop, he adored that I was on television.

'My mother won't discuss me with other people. If someone says "you sound awfully like Victoria Wood" she might admit through gritted teeth that we're related.'

In a separate interview, she recalled: 'My mother always famously claimed to have no sense of humour at all which I think was true. She was depressed for a lot of the time I was a child.'

Victoria was determined that her children would have a happier childhood than she did, after welcoming son Henry and daughter Grace with husband Geoffrey Durham.  

'If her childhood experience had any bearing on how she was as a mother, it was to make her a fiercely protective mother,' Lesley said. 'She was a fantastic mother.' 

Jane Wymark, Victoria's friend from Birmingham University, added: 'By the time she had children she was very, very successful and doing an awful lot, but it seemed to me she managed to be there for her children. 

'For both of us, as we got older we became more accepting of ourselves, more comfortable in our own skin.' 

It marked a turning point for Victoria, who for years had struggled with her body image after being cruelly taunted about her size.  

She had admitted to being 'self-conscious' about her weight, stating: 'I felt ashamed about it but I couldn't get to grips with doing anything about it.

'I did feel very insecure in being fat, it was always mentioned in anything that was written about me.' 

Victoria's good friend Michael Ball mused: 'I think she was very haunted in the early parts of her career because of the way people were treating her... the fact she didn't look like how any of the other big stars looked like.

'No one is harder on someone about their weight than that person themselves. 

'She never minded being the butt of the joke but she didn't give herself enough coming out on top.' 

Victoria spent 30 years of her life dieting before learning to accept herself, often incorporating jokes about her weight into her stand-up routines.  

Michael credited his late friend with 'demystifying' the subject of weight and food 'so we could laugh at it'. 

Victoria also championed the visibility of plus size women on TV, with her Dinnerladies co-star Maxine Peak revealing her weight was a key factor in landing her breakout role. 

Maxine recalled: 'She [Victoria] told me I was cast because of my size - I was 5'7 and 15 stone at that time - it wasn't because i was the best person that came in. 

'I'd been told at drama school, as one teacher said to me, "if I didn't lay off the chips I'd never play Juliet". I think she [Victoria] saw a lot of herself in me at that time.' 

Indeed, Victoria has been credited with inspiring a host of comediennes to follow in her footsteps with self-deprecating humour and promoting body acceptance. 

Among those who have credited Victoria as their comic inspiration are Kerry Godliman, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. 

Yet Victoria would always downplay her title of being a 'national treasure' and instead said of her career: 'It’s a lovely life-affirming job: you go out and you make people laugh. I think that’s great. Who wouldn’t want to do that? 

'As long as you do it well, I don’t think there’s any problem.'

As for the ups and downs of her life, Victoria summed it up perfectly in a 2011 interview, when she said: 'Life’s not fair, is it? 

'Some of us drink champagne in the fast lane, and some of us eat our sandwiches by the loose chippings on the A597.'