Television personality Gemma Collins has revealed she thought she would die following weight loss surgery. The 44-year-old has struggled with body image for years and has undergone unsafe weight loss techniques in past, such as taking appetite suppressants as a teenager. Now she has spoken about having painful gastric bypass surgery.
Speaking to The Sun, Collins revealed it made her extremely ill. She said: “It was scary. I should never have done it… I thought I was going to die. I could not get out of bed. The pain in my stomach… because it was like a foreign body in my belly.
“I couldn’t even drink water. I’ll never forget that feeling of needing to drink and I couldn’t – it was making me violently sick.
“I rang the hospital saying, ‘I need this out now because otherwise I will die.’”
The TOWIE star added that she has been “bullied and tortured” for her weight for years and hopes she will finally be able to be “happier and healthier” this year as she turns to medication that aids weight-loss.
She said she had begun using Mounjuro to help her during her weight-loss journey: “I’ve saved money being on Mounjaro, probably £1,500 a month on the weekly shop. My life doesn’t revolve around food any more.
“I was starving before, I would be suicidal on diets. That awful feeling of… ‘Have I got to spend the rest of my life in this toxic dieting chain?’
“I know that depression, upset and desperation. I’ve been weighing food portions and eating two boiled eggs a day for years.
“I don’t have that any more. No one understands unless they’ve been there too, but I’m excited for my future now.”
The reality star added that now weight loss feels “effortless” and that she “can’t believe” she’s found something that works.
“I got on the scales and lost something like 6kg in my first week. I bet my house by May, I’ll have six stone off. And it’s been effortless,” she said.
She explained that she was embarking on the weight-loss journey in the hopes to start a family with her fiancé Rami Hawash. Collins said she believes after losing more weight she will “give birth to twins” next year.