Gemma Collins’ weight loss journey as she sheds 3st – from brutal diets & £5k ‘juice camp’ to controversial skinny jabs
FROM figure-hugging outfits and plunging bikinis to fluffy lingerie - Gemma Collins has been proudly showing off her three-stone weight loss to fans this summer.
Yet the incredible transformation hasn't been easy for the TV diva - who has turned to brutal diets, controversial 'skinny jabs' and even a £5,000-a-week 'juice camp' in a bid to shed the pounds.
Though Gemma - one of The Only Way Is Essex's best-loved stars - has always exuded confidence and body positivity no matter what her size, she's made no secret of her "nightmare" battle with food.
She has also courageously opened up about her struggle with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal condition that made it difficult for her to lose weight after her "very slim" twenties.
In June, The GC admitted to her two million Instagram followers that bullies have "taunted" her over the years, while companies have callously told her: "You're too fat to promote my brand."
Smiling through the taunts
But despite the insults, she's continued to smile and promote body confidence - even recently sticking her fingers up at clothing brands who wouldn't dress her size 16 body in the early days of Towie.
"What you got to say now, huns?!" she remarked.
Here, after stunning Gemma, 39, wowed fans this week by posing in a glamorous white outfit while celebrating a business milestone, we look at her weight loss journey through the years...
Shock diagnosis in her 20s
It feels like we've always known The GC, but she was actually 30 years old when she first graced our screens in 2011 for her Towie debut.
Luckily, to compensate for the fact that we all missed a decade or so of priceless content, the star often takes to Instagram to reveal snaps of herself before the showbiz world gobbled her up.
Three months ago, she sparked a frank conversation about her PCOS battle with her followers, as she shared a holiday throwback snap from her 20s.
She wrote alongside it: "As you can see guys when I was in my 20s I was very slim then I was told I had PCOS and it’s been a struggle ever since...
"However I make the most of myself and remain positive because it’s what in your heart counts the most.
Sending love to all the PCOS sufferers it’s not easy and always be kind people people are not always over weight because of all the stereo typical bullying comments !!!
"I CHOSE to RISE ABOVE and continued to promote body confidence even when I had my own personal struggles and the secret to my success was just being ME!"
'I thought about food every minute'
Gemma has previously admitted she didn't realise she was piling on weight in her twenties at first - having turned to food when she was struggling emotionally.
"Every time I felt an emotion I would eat to block it. Food gave me a high," she wrote in her 2013 autobiography, Basically... My Life As An Essex Girl.
"I started to fixate about food. It became a focus away from the grim reality of my situation. I would think about it from the minute I woke up to the minute I went to bed.
"I had low self-esteem. I was suffering and without realising I morphed into a bigger person."
Gemma added: "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."
Weight yo-yoed for 'fast cash'
In 2011, Gemma joined The Only Way Is Essex after Julie Childs, mother of Gemma's school friend and Towie co-star Amy Childs, told producers about the then-used car saleswoman.
She was first introduced to viewers as a potential love interest for castmate Mick Norcross, but she quickly became a leading lady.
Keen to feel as confident as possible on the show at the time, she shed three stone at a weight loss bootcamp that same year, sticking solely to healthy foods and a very strict exercise regime, before showing off her slimmer figure (and dramatic brunette hair transformation) on the show.
In one of her most honest and frank interviews as part of Channel 5's In Therapy in 2016, Gemma later admitted she was motivated by a desire to be in the limelight and make money quickly at the time.
She said: "I can remember it all, them telling me you need to go over to the park in gym wear and them saying 'we want to get some terrible shots of you but then you will get £15,000 for the pictures Gemma'.
"Looking back now I would never ever have gone down the route of the weight gain and weight loss but it was just a fast way to a quick bit of money."
Although the longtime Essex favourite briefly left the show in 2018, she remains part of the Towie cast still today.
Body confidence with Arg
At the end of 2011, Gemma poured her heart out to Towie co-star James 'Arg' Argent over her feelings for him, despite the fact he was dating Lydia Bright.
Just months later, when Arg and Lydia had split in 2012, they started a casual fling together.
During this time, Gemma debuted a curvier figure once again but seemed more confident and happier than ever, regularly posing in sleek dresses on the red carpet.
In fact, after one of their splits, she went on to deliver the now-famous line to Arg, saying: "You’re never going to get this candy."
Food struggles at height of fame
In 2014, Gemma - who once proudly declared she was "f***ing sexy" - became a household name when she starred in I'm A Celebrity.
Although she pulled out three days into her jungle stint because she "just wasn't enjoying it", she had certainly entertained the nation in the small amount of time she was on-screen.
However, that year she once more turned to food and, at her heaviest, tipped the scales at 21st.
“I’ve done every diet out there, there’s nothing I haven’t done," she previously told Good Morning Britain.
“I was obsessed with food. And life revolved around food and eating. There was no brain space in my head for me not to think about food, it was a living nightmare.”
'Juice camps' & hypnotherapy
But in 2015, fans were sent into a frenzy when Gem underwent her second dramatic weight loss since being in the public eye.
She entered a £5,000-a-week 'juice camp' in Portugal and dropped a massive three stone.
The star lived on fruit drinks during a month-long stint at a special retreat, and was weaned off her "addiction" to fatty foods.
Juice master Jason Vale told The Mirror previously: “She lost two-and-a-half to three stone in total in four weeks, living on nothing but freshly pressed juice.
“She has been doing exercise as well but not military-style. None of it is forced. Nobody can force Gemma to do anything, frankly.”
She has been doing exercise as well but not military-style. None of it is forced. Nobody can force Gemma to do anything, frankly
Juice master Jason Vale
That same year Gemma tried hypnotherapy to shed more weight and revealed she had been hypnotised into believing she had a gastric band in a bid to stay slim.
According to Closer, she told Now! Magazine at the time: "I've gone from a size 22 to an 18. I had a bit of 3D lipo and saw a hypnotist called Robert Hisee, who put a hypno gastric band in me!
"Now I have four mouthfuls of food and I can't eat any more. I feel like I can't breathe I'm so full."
Rise of 'meme queen'
It's fair to say that 2017 was a gem of a year for our Gem.
She became the nation's "meme queen" and there's no denying the Towie legend rose to a whole new level of fame.
But health-wise Gemma had a tough time that year as she was told her egg count was low during an episode of Towie, and that her weight would make it harder for her to become pregnant.
She could have opted for a gastric band but ruled it out.
Speaking to The Sun, Gemma said: “I’m not saying I’ll get to a size 10 but I do need to lose weight. For my health I wouldn’t be bigger than I am now. I refuse to have a gastric band as easy as it would be.”
Regardless, on holiday in Tenerife that year, Gemma proudly wore a black, sheer mesh swimsuit to reveal her stunning curves.
Defending her choice of attire, the reality star later explained to The Sun: "I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t need to explain my outfits.
“It's not for everyone but I loved it - why shouldn’t a plus size girl wear mesh - who said they couldn’t?”
Ice Queen burns off the calories
While ice skating may not be the typical choice of work out, it seems that this activity can be a very good way to burn calories, since going on Dancing on Ice in 2019 is what kick-started Gemma's recent toning up.
During her time on the show, the self-proclaimed diva did two hours of training, three times a week, which burned at least 1,000 calories a session.
Speaking to Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield on This Morning when she left the show, she said: “I will 100 per cent keep up with the fitness.”
Discussing the change in her body, she continued: “I feel so much better."
And she certainly stuck to her word.
Later that year, Gemma enjoyed a well-deserved holiday abroad and showed off her slimmer frame in a white, busty swimsuit. She appeared to be bursting with confidence as she modelled the strapless one-piece.
She might not be a shrinking violet, but the Essex girl's waistline has shrunk no end in recent pictures as she reveals her new three-stone weight loss.
The GC looked incredible as she posed up a storm during the Covid lockdown, showing off her new slim bod.
Controversial 'skinny jabs'
But she has owned up to fans that her "secret" to losing so much weight this time is partly down to keeping up with controversial weight loss injections.
Last year, Sun Online revealed the star was on a new weight loss plan with 'skinny jabs', which are injections that act as an appetite suppressant.
Gemma, however, has been met with some criticism for promoting them.
The jabs cost up to £350 for a four-week programme and contain the ingredient liraglutide, which carries many health risks.
Nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert told The Sun Online: "Any form of self-injection can be risky and an area that only your GP or health professional can advise you on, risk of infection, place of injection, the dose inside."
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Although Gemma has already shifted a few stone, her weight loss journey might not be over yet - as her sights are set on shedding more.
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She said: "I'd be really happy if I lost six stone as that would bring me down to 12 stone and a size 16."
But for the moment, The GC is feeling healthier than ever. And as she recently told her fans, "Your health is your wealth."