Love Island star Shaughna Phillips has revealed that her battle with lipoedema had an extremely emotional effect on her time in the villa.
She said she spent most of her time on Love Island crying to a therapist. Shaughna had liposuction on her legs in September after being diagnosed with lipoedema, an abnormal build-up of fat in the legs and sometimes in the arms. The operation saw two litres of fat drained from her calves.
Speaking to The Sun, Shaughna said she faced years of bullying over the size of her legs, which left her feeling self-conscious and insecure. She said: "My legs had been my biggest body hang up since I can remember.
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"It has been the one thing I have always said I would want to change about myself."
Shaughna admitted to feeling self-conscious during her time on Love Island. She said: "When I went on Love Island, I spent lots of time crying to the therapist. I was surrounded by these lovely looking girls, and I felt like the show's box-ticking fat girl."
Whilst in the villa, Shaughna said she would get painful, "constant bruising" on her legs and had "no idea what is was".
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After she left, she received messages asking if she had been diagnosed with lipoedema. "I had no idea what it meant but it was a breakthrough for me," she said.
Shaughna discussed the gruelling workouts she did before discovering that she was suffering from lipoedema. "I'd be going to the gym six times a week and even though I got down to 9st 6lb and a size six on the top half, my legs would stat at a size 14.
She added: "I was killing myself doing these workouts."
The reality star, who now boasts 1.5 million followers on social media, said she will not let trolls get to her.
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"Yes, I have had liposuction on my lower legs. It's something that I have been suffering with physically and mentally my whole life and it has now been sorted.
"So I am not ashamed or embarrassed to say I have had that done.
"It was to help with a condition I have, and hopefully it will help others too."
Featured Image Credit: ITV 2Topics: Celebrity News, TV Entertainment, Love Island