Gemma Collins’ weight loss journey through the years – from £5K-a-week ‘juice camp’ to controversial ‘skinny jabs’
GEMMA Collins has exuded confidence through the years no matter what her size, constantly sharing inspirational body positivity posts and glamorous photos with her fans.
But she's made no secret of her battle with her weight in that time - and with brutal diets, workout regimes and even some controversial skinny jabs, we've seen her enjoy both the highs and the lows when it comes to shedding the pounds.
The Towie favourite, 39, recently shared some super slim snaps from her younger years after bravely opening up about her battle with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal condition that made it increasingly difficult to lose weight after her twenties.
And now, while she admits she still struggles with maintaining a trim figure, Gemma has been wowing fans with some very glam photos, showing her weight loss during lockdown.
The GC first appeared on our TV screens in 2011 as she made her debut on The Only Way Is Essex and as her popularity has grown, her frank honesty has inspired millions of fans.
Here, we take a look at Gemma's weight loss journey through the years...
Shock diagnosis in twenties
It feels like we've always known the GC, but she was actually 30 years old when she first graced our screens in 2011.
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.
Recently, she sparked a frank conversation about her PCOS battle with her 1.8 million followers, as she shared a holiday throwback snap.
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!"
Gemma 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."
She 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 cast mate 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 infamous line to Arg, saying: "You’re never going to get this candy."
Luckily the feeling was short-lived.
Food struggles at height of fame
Gemma Collins became a household name when she starred in the 2014 series of I'm A Celeb.
Although she pulled out just three days into her jungle stint because she "just wasn't enjoying it", she certainly had 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 and hypnotherapy
Fans were sent into a frenzy in 2015 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 an impressive 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 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.”
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 , 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 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 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. The GC appeared to be bursting with confidence as she modelled the strapless one-piece.
Controversial 'skinny jabs'
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 looks incredible as she poses up a storm during lockdown, showing off that new slim bod.
But Gemma has owned up to fans that her "secret" to losing three stone this time is partly down to keeping up with controversial weight loss injections.
Last year, Sun Online revealed The GC was on a new weight loss plan with 'skinny jabs', which are injections that act as an appetite suppressant.
Gemma has, however, 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.
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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."
Although Gemma may have already shifted a few stone, her sights are set on shredding more and so her weight loss journey might not be over yet.
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."
Go Gem!