Love Island' s Shaughna Phillips revealed she had undergone liposuction after she was diagnosed with lipoedema, a chronic condition that causes an abnormal amount of fat to build up in the legs.
The TV star underwent surgery in October last year where almost 3 litres of fat were removed from her calves, costing £6,000.
Speaking in a Youtube Q&A, Shaughna didn’t shy away from discussing the difficult recovery process, openly explaining the pain and swelling she went through and that her mum had to change her adult nappy.
She said: “The hardest part of the journey is knowing it’s a marathon not a sprint.
“You have the surgery, and you imagine the next day you’re going to be up and you’ll have these super slim legs just like strutting your stuff. And it’s absolutely not that at all.”
Hitting back at haters calling her “lazy” for getting the surgery, she said: “Why would I care about someone’s opinion that I’ve ever met, that I don’t know, about what I’ve done to my body.”
On Instagram she posted a before and after shot of her surgery and thanked her doctor for giving her back confidence she hasn’t had since she was 11.
She said: “I didn’t know it was a condition I just thought I had horrible legs and had to get over myself.”
After exiting Love Island she discovered hundreds of messages asking her about lipoedema and if she had been diagnosed.
Shaughna admitted: “It was such a relief finding out this is what is causing this problem but then I almost felt like ‘oh my god the clock was ticking if I don’t have this surgery quickly then my legs are just going to get bigger and bigger.”
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Shaughna said after coming out of Love Island she was hit with “nasty comments” which “heightened my insecurity” and googled her name to find the first suggestion that popped up said ‘Shaughna Phillips legs’.
“I remember feeling like the whole world had been talking about my legs. I didn’t click on it but even just seeing the suggestion there, it hurt”, she said candidly.
Her fear of being bullied online for her condition even caused her to block the word ‘legs’ on her social media.
Her time in the villa was also affected by her insecurity and looking back she said: “my heart breaks for myself.”
She revealed she worked out six times a week as she felt like the “token fat girl” and after being told about the dirty dancing challenge she cried from midday until she walked out.
Shaughna said: “I remember saying to the producers 'I don’t care if you send me out there with no bra on all I’m asking is that you give me trousers'. My outfit was the only outfit without trousers, tights, boots – in fact my outfit was a thigh high swimming costume.
“I was just like you have done me up here. All I asked was for something to cover my legs.”
She added: “I was a mess. I’ve never watched it back and I will never watch it back and I’m glad it’s over.”
Shaughna told others to look at lipoedema accounts on Instagram for advice and to go to a consultation if they felt they could have the same condition.
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