FOR over a decade, Gemma Collins has been TV’s most famous poster girl for shapely women, regularly proclaiming how she loves her curves.
However, in her most candid interview to date, the TOWIE star now reveals the dark truth behind her happy-go-lucky image – and the terrible, traumatic ordeals she’s put herself through in a desperate attempt to be thin.
The 44-year-old is feeling sexier than ever after using the weight loss drug[/caption]
Gemma wants to realise her dream of becoming a mum[/caption]
Bravely opening up to The Sun, the 44-year-old shares her fears she was going to die after a secret gastric band operation, her years of agony after being unable to conceive, and how weight loss jabs have transformed her life.
The larger-than-life reality TV icon, who has flaunted her curves and released plus-sized clothing ranges, has been fighting a sad battle with her body for years.
At one point the star, who at her heaviest weighed over 23st and was a size 26, reveals she couldn’t even roll over in bed and was left unable to wear sexy lingerie.
However, now looking happier and healthier than I’ve ever seen her, Gemma is glowing as she shares how she’s dropped two dress sizes – and two stone – by resorting to NHS-approved Mounjaro weight loss jabs after years of fad diets.
Arriving at the luxury Down Hall Hotel and spa estate in Essex, makeup-free in skin-tight leggings and trainers, Gemma is radiating positivity, so confident she’s even stopped hiding behind her beloved long hair extensions and opted for a cute, on-trend bob.
And as we sit down together, Gemma excitedly reveals her goal to become a size 16 by the summer in a final desperate attempt to have a baby, saying: “I think I’ll give birth to twins next year!”
“I can’t believe I’ve finally found something that works. I’ve lost nearly two stone already and it’s been completely effortless – I don’t even want to eat anymore!” she says.
And in our extraordinary chat, she also lifts the lid on the celeb weight loss jab trend, claiming “everyone” in showbiz is on them, with scores of high-profile names using them in secret and lying about their rapid weight loss.
‘Toxic’ diets
Today, gone are expensive meals out, regular takeaways and cake binges after Gemma started using Mounjaro back in November.
She says: “I was like, ‘Wow, this is unbelievable.’ The weight was finally coming off of me.
“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 adds: “I’ve struggled for many, many years to lose weight… All my life… I tried everything.”
“I can remember at school taking a tablet called Reductil… (an appetite suppressant which is now unavailable and was taken off the market).
“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.
“This is a revolutionary, life-changing drug for someone who has struggled with weight their whole life.
“There’s all this pressure people don’t realise. A weight problem clouds your whole life.”
‘I thought I was going to die’
During her darkest period Gemma had a secret operation to have a gastric balloon fitted called an Obalon Balloon, but was left feeling so unwell she believed she’d die.
She says: “I felt so pressurised to lose weight and I was constantly being bullied by trolls. I had it put in, it’s like a canister and then once it’s in, they expand it.
“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.’”
And now she’s seen the results with her own eyes, Gemma reckons so much rapid weight loss of those in the public eye is down to weight loss jabs too.
She lists off tons of names of celebrities – who we can’t name for legal reasons – who are secretly injecting themselves but lying about it – and not telling their fans how they really lost weight.
“There’s quite a few people in this industry not telling the truth. That’s their personal journey and business,” Gemma adds.
“If anyone’s had sudden weight loss good for them – I feel a lot happier since I’ve been on it too.”
Gemma, pictured before her latest weight loss, said she used to think of food ‘non-stop’[/caption]
‘I couldn’t get a sexy bra on’
But how does Gemma feel about losing her signature curves after years of being the pin-up for the fuller-figured women who might ask now: ‘We thought you were happy being bigger?’
She says: “When I got to 40, the weight was getting me down, taking its toll.
“I couldn’t get a sexy bra on. I wasn’t dressing how I wanted to. I was constantly in this cycle – having excess weight.
“I like to be active, but I was finding walking, at my biggest, hard. I’ve gone up to 23-and-a-half stone.
“The best thing for me now I’m lighter is being able to turn around in bed. It got to the point where it was hard to.
“I was just so uncomfortable. My bones started hurting. I was fed up. I’m not a fed-up person. I’ve always made the best of every situation, but it’s tiring constantly thinking, what can I wear?
Gemma’s yo-yo weight journey and rise to stardom
Gemma didn’t realise she was piling on weight in her twenties when she turned to food to help her through a period of emotional turmoil.
Suffering with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, a hormonal condition which can cause weight gain, Gemma admitted in her 2013 autobiography to fixating on food saying: “I went from being a thin girl who never had a weight problem and was a constant size 10 to a girl who couldn’t stop growing.”
Gemma joined TOWIE in 2011 and lost three stone at a bootcamp to feel confident on TV.
She admitted in 2016 on Channel 5’s In Therapy that her yo-yo dieting had been part of quick money-making schemes.
In 2015 she underwent dramatic weight loss at a £5,000-a-week “juice camp” in Portugal losing three stone over four weeks.
Gemma even tried hypnotherapy to shed weight – she was hypnotised into believing she’d had a gastric band and went from a size 22 to an 18. In 2020 she tried Ozempic, but it made her unwell.
Before trying Mounjaro last November, Gemma lost around three stone while taking part in Dancing on Ice in 2019 but afterwards ballooned to 23-and-a-half stone and a size 26.
“It’s a really negative cycle. You’re constantly beating yourself up. Whereas now, this is what I’m doing. It’s working. I plan on being on it until I get to my desired weight, this year.
“Then I’ll do maintenance, smaller dose. You don’t need it for life. But I’m still on my journey with it.”
‘Food doesn’t run me anymore’
Whatever her size, Gemma has always rocked her curves, famously telling ex James ‘Arg’ Argent, who she briefly dated in 2012 and again from 2017 to 2020, in that iconic TOWIE scene: “You ain’t never gonna get this candy.”
But she says Mounjaro has helped make her feel even more sexy and confident, happily adding: “For the first time in a long time I’m back wearing sexy underwear and my nice bras.”
She is now loved up, of course, with her successful businessman fiancé, Rami Hawash, who she first started dating in 2011.
It’s been a well-documented on/off relationship, most recently rekindling in 2021 before getting engaged in February 2024. And he has been her biggest fan – whatever her size.
But will Gemma be forced to inject herself forever in a bid to keep the weight off?
She says: “I’m not at my desired weight yet. I want to get back to a size 16. That’s my goal.
“I’ve gone from a size 26 to a size 20. And there has been such little struggle. I’m still like, ‘This is too good to be true,’ – it’s literally the first time in my life I don’t think about food.
“I’ve got loads of energy. I’m just not hungry.
“I’m going to carry on taking it. I had a break over Christmas because your appetite goes – you don’t want food. And I’ve got to enjoy my roast dinner, know what I mean? But on Christmas Day, I didn’t really fancy my dinner.
I like to be active, but I was finding walking, at my biggest hard… Best thing for me now I’m lighter is being able to turn around in bed. It got to the point where it was hard
Gemma Collins
“This is why it’s important to get advice on what to eat which [weight loss app] Yazen helps me with.
“When your appetite changes portions become smaller, it is important that whatever food is on your plate still covers the right nutritional needs.
“If I’ve got a special occasion and want to enjoy a meal I‘ll inject a day later because you inject once a week.
“Everyone said on Mounjaro – which I didn’t understand – ‘You don’t get food noise’. Food would be my whole day.
“But food doesn’t run me any more. Before it was: ‘I’ve got to eat. I’m starving. I need cake,’ the truth is, I barely eat cake now.
“Rami couldn’t believe it. It was my birthday, normally I’d have four different cakes. I love cake. We went to the New Forest, the hotel made a cake… I didn’t eat it.”
Side effects
As well as her weight struggles, Gemma believes there’s other health benefits to Mounjaro and that they may help improve conditions like Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, which can cause weight gain and fertility issues.
She says: “I have got PCOS. I did have an underactive thyroid. I think I owe it to myself. Because this is such an easy way to lose weight.
“I’ve plateaued the last month – I haven’t gained, I haven’t lost.
“It did affect my period. I hadn’t had a period for three months. I said I’m a bit worried because I wasn’t pregnant. But it was one of the side effects [and] now it’s regulated. I think my body is just loving this medication.”
For Gemma, the positive effect the jabs are having on her life far outweigh the possible risks.
“I’m not saying there’s no side effects, no one knows until they take it, but NHS doctors have approved it,” she adds.
Gemma has been modelling outfits on social media after dropping two stone[/caption]
She finally has a grip on her food cravings[/caption]
Mum’s the word
Another big driver for Gemma to drop the pounds is the fact she’d love to become a mum.
The star has previously suffered three heartbreaking miscarriages in 2012, 2020 and again in July 2020.
She says: “I want to have a baby. I truly believe that once my weight goes, I’ll fall pregnant.
“That’s my hope. I want a baby… And I truly believe I’ll have twins.”
In the short-term however, she is looking forward to the simple pleasure of just being able to slip back into a bikini with confidence.
She adds: “I don’t want to have the horror and dread of going on holiday ever again.
“I’m just going to throw that bikini on and enjoy my day on the beach. Not having that fear, worry or upset constantly thinking, ‘Is someone taking a picture?’
“I really want to go to Sandy Lane, Barbados, but there’s no way I can go right now because I’ll get papped in my bikini and it’ll ruin my holiday.
“I’m not out of control anymore. The sky’s the limit, I’ve got everything to look forward to.
“I’ve not got the added pressure of, ‘What if someone gets a picture?’ F*** it. Let them.
“I’m going to show off my new body – in my thong bikini!”
What is the Yazen app providing the Mounjaro jab?
Mounjaro is the brand name for a drug sometimes called GLP-1 that helps make people feel fuller for longer.
Yazen is the digital care giver providing support and guidance for exercise, diet and mental health while offering 24/7 access to a doctor who prescribes the medication.
Approved as an obesity drug by the NHS last summer, there are claims those on the biggest dose – 15mg – could lose 21 per cent of their body weight. Gemma is now on 7.5.
Gemma says: “I got approached by Yazen last year, I said, ‘I’m going to be honest, it’s really important as I’ve got older, not just to do stuff for money, but be mindful of what I’m promoting.’
“I said, ‘I’ll trial it first, then I’ll know.’
“I don’t want to put my name to something – I wouldn’t be able to sustain if it was like Ozempic.
“I’m on 7.5 now, I started on 2.5.”
You have to have blood tests before Yazen doctors approve you to take the medication.
Discover more on Yazen at www.yazen.com
