SHE set out on the path to fame as a healthy, happy 10-year-old with a voice to die for and everything to live for.

But by the time the world had woken up to Scottish singer Lena Zavaroni's talent, her agent had put her on a diet.

Lena's new eating regime was meant to be a healthy and nutritious diet.

But it sowed the seeds in the mind of the young star and her on a roller- coaster ride that would lead to her tragic death at the age of 36 35.

She was on a crash course to self-destruction and she still wasn't even old enough to leave primary school. Now, for the first time since the anorexic star's death last October, her family have spoken about the agony of watching Bute-born Lena starve herself.

They have recalled how the happy little 10-year-old singer was suddenly put on a diet after moving from her Rothesay home to stay with her London agent, Dorothy Solomon.

Soon afterwards, Lena started to complain about being too fat for her skimpy stage outfits.Lena's cousin Martha has described how the singer became obsessed with her weight after she moved south to the bright lights of London.

The big move came soon after her 1974 appearance on Opportunity Knocks - the talent show that would transform her from a schoolgirl into a star who would later rub shoulders with Frank Sinatra.

Martha said: "Lena said something to us about feeling a little bit overweight.

"But she came from Rothesay, with fish and chips and cans of baked beans and spaghetti, so Dorothy put her on a sort of healthier diet."

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One Life Two Paths