Steph McGovern reveals secret health problems that meant she had to turn down I’m A Celebrity
PACKED Lunch host Steph McGovern revealed that she was forced to turn down I’m A Celebrity due to a health reason.
The TV presenter, 40, said she’s been asked several times to take part in the ITV show, but has been reluctant to sign up as she has irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Channel 4 star Steph explained that she worries that the jungle diet would wreak havoc on her body.
IBS is a common condition that affects the digestive system and can causes symptoms like stomach cramps, bloating and diarrhoea.
“I’m not scared about eating things,” she said.
“My main worry is about would be how my body would react.
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“You see, I’m the type of person who gets a small bite and then my whole leg swells up.
“I’ve also got IBS too so I’d be scared that if I ate something that disagreed with me I’d probably end up [bleep]ing myself on TV.
“It’s not mentally how I’d deal with it, but more physically how my body would work,” she added to Entertainment Daily.
Back in July, Steph revealed she is ‘in agony’ with health issues and had lost weight.
The star posted a makeup-free snap to her account, with visible blisters on her face.
Steph captioned the post: “Here’s a pic of me looking rough, let me explain why…
“We’re coming to the end of this series of Packed Lunch (we’re on a summer break after tomorrow) and whenever I get to the end of a long run I get poorly.
“I’ve always had this whatever job I’ve been doing. I bet lots of people are the same.
“This time I have a bad ear infection and blisters in/around my ear/hair/face. It has been agony.”
The telly favourite further explained that she’s on medication to help fight it off – however it has made other symptoms of another condition worse.
“I’m on a load of different drugs to try and treat infections and ease pain,” Steph continued.
“Some of them are antibiotics, which has totally buggered up my gut health (you know how obsessed I am about that) so my IBS is back in full swing being a total b*tch.”
Steph explained that she had lost weight due to suffering with irritable bowel syndrome.
“I’ve had IBS for as long as I can remember, but I just assumed it was one of those things you either have or you don’t have and there isn’t any cure,” she told The Mirror.
“So for a long time, I just accepted it. I used to get awful cramps and run to the loo.
“Then I did a show for the BBC called Easy Ways To Live Well and I discovered my gut was in the worst third of the population.
“I started to adapt my diet but then I fell pregnant with my little girl and couldn’t do that. So now I’ve started to focus on my gut health again and it’s changed my life.
“I take a probiotic called Symprove, which helps massively, and I do intermittent fasting midweek – so I only eat between 11am and 7pm, I’ve also introduced more gut-friendly foods.
“Suddenly, I realised I’d lost my bloated belly, which was amazing. People would ask me all the time whether I was pregnant because I had this swollen stomach and now it’s gone.
“So, I wasn’t trying to be super thin – I was pretty happy with how I looked – it was only by trying to help my IBS that I’ve lost weight.”
