AN Atherton mum and her young daughter appeared on Jeremy Kyle’s Emergency Room on ITV yesterday, Wednesday, to raise awareness of the painful skin condition they both have.

Melanie Bradley and five-year-old Rebecca suffer from a rare genetic skin disease called bullous ichthyosis, which causes them to have baths and moisturise every few hours.

Their skin grows at an abnormal rate and is unable to regulate body temperature or maintain moisture, resulting in it thickening around joints and breaking into blisters.

Non-nonsense talk show host Jeremy told Chowbent Primary School pupil Rebecca she is very brave for managing the painful, incurable disease and called her 'cute', while her mum Melanie had a dressing changed live on TV.

Melanie, 38, of Warwick Road, said: “It was such a good experience talking to Jeremy about our condition.

"It is quite rare and we want more people to be aware of it.

“If our appearance on the programme has helped just one person out there then it was worth going on the programme.

“Everyone was so lovely on the show and they really made Rebecca’s day, especially when Jeremy called her cute.”

Melanie has set up Facebook group Friends of Ichthyosis and hopes to launch a charity to further raise awareness of the disease.

She added: “We want people to know that even though there is no cure, the condition is manageable and there is support available.

"In a way Rebecca is fortunate because I have the condition myself so I know how to help her.

"When my mum had me I was the first in the family with the disease, so she had to learn."

To find out more about the disease visit facebook.com/FriendsOfIchthyosis.