Steph McGovern has revealed she has been asked to participate in ITV's I'm A Celebrity multiple times but declined due to a hidden health issue.
The Steph's Packed Lunch star revealed that while she would love to head to the jungle she had to turn the offer down due to her irritable bowel syndrome.
The 40-year-old TV personality admitted the diet of rice and beans, that the competing celebrities notoriously live off during their time on the show, would cause issues with her digestive system.
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Irritable bowel syndrome is a common condition affecting the digestive system. It causes symptoms such as stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhoea and constipation. Steph said while she isn't scared of the unusual things she could be faced with eating on the show, she would be worried how her body might react given her condition.
The Channel 4 star told Entertainment Daily: "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."
Steph has previously opened up about her health struggles, revealing that her IBS saw her loose weight and even drop a dress size due to the symptoms. She told our colleagues at The Mirror: "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.
"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."
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