Josie Gibson previously opened up about the debilitating health battle that she has been fighting “all her life”.
Since shooting to fame in 2010, Josie has become a regular on TV screens. From This Morning to Josie’s Taste of the West Country – which airs today (May 10) – Josie has remained booked and busy.
Over the years though, she has faced her own health challenges. And recently, Josie opened up about lipoedema battle and revealed she “had to do something about it before it gets worse”.
Josie Gibson on painful health battle
Josie was diagnosed with lipoedema last year. The condition is an abnormal build-up of fat in your legs and sometimes arms. It can be painful and affect daily life. It can make your bottom, thighs, lower legs and sometimes your arms look out of proportion with the rest of the body.
There’s currently no treatment available on the NHS, but in a bid to combat the issue, Josie had two surgeries – liposuction and an arm lift.
And talking to Woman magazine, Josie reflected on her lipoedema battle after having her surgeries. She said: “It stopped me in my tracks a bit – I couldn’t even put the bins out, and I struggle with stopping and relaxing.”
Josie reveals she’s arms were ‘really lumpy’
Josie then noted that regardless of how fit you are, or what your diet is, “with lipoedema you can’t lose fat”. She shared: “My arms were really lumpy and horrible. I’ve got this little waist, I shouldn’t have cellulite on my arms!”
The mum-of-one also recalled how she would get home from work and her “legs would be really achy” from a long day filming on her feet.
Josie then revealed that helping raise awareness about lipoedema has been a silver lining for her amid her health battle.
She said: “To talk about it has been amazing. The response I’ve had is unreal. It’s not like I’ve done anything courageous – all I’ve done is had surgery. But you’ve been fighting all your life to get rid of this fat, then you realise it’s your genetics that you’re fighting. I think it’s made a few women feel like, ‘Thank God, it’s not just me.’”
‘It’s like my legs don’t really belong on my body’
Meanwhile, earlier this year Josie appeared on This Morning where she spoke about her lipoedema diagnosis.
“I got diagnosed about a year ago and I’ve just been in for surgery. Well, in September,” she said on the ITV show.
Josie then explained how it affects her. “I said to them I train, I don’t feel like I overeat, I’m fit and healthy. They said you could train seven days a week but you don’t get rid of lipoedema fat like that. It’s like congealed fat.”
The star added: “So I’ve got this small waist and it’s like my legs don’t really belong on my body. They belong on another body.
“You get like these big legs and then as I’m getting older it’s getting worse. And I can see it all in my arms now too. I weight train and it’s just getting worse. I can train and train and train but I’m going down the surgery route now.”
Watch Josie on Josie’s Taste of the West Country on Sunday (May 10) at 11:25am on ITV1.
What do you think of this story? You can leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know