'It stopped me in my tracks' - Josie Gibson opens up on lipoedema battle after two surgeries

Josie Gibson first raised awareness of her lipoedema battle at the start of the year, and as she prepares for a new TV show, she gave an update after declaring she "had to do something about it before it gets worse".

After first talking about the condition on This Morning, Josie has since gone on to have two surgeries.

While she’s happy she’s raising awareness, she insists she hasn’t done anything "courageous" but acknowledges it's been something she's been "fighting all [her] life, then you realise it’s your genetics that you’re fighting."

Because of the condition, which is where the body holds a disproportionate amount of fat, usually in the legs or arms, the presenter has recently gone through two surgeries - liposuction and an arm lift - which left her stuck at home, where she "couldn’t even put the bins out".

She shared, "I can’t wait to get my bandages off. I’ve just been at home. It stopped me in my tracks a bit - I couldn’t even put the bins out, and I struggle with stopping and relaxing."

But she has no regrets about taking action.

"I had to do something about it now before it gets worse. When I was filming The 70s Diet, I performed really well on my fitness test. The doctors couldn’t believe it. I said, ‘You weren’t expecting me to be fit because I’m this size’, and they said, ‘No, the lipoedema just holds you back.' So then I saw another doctor."

"No matter how fit you are or what your diet is, with lipoedema you can’t lose fat [in the affected areas]. So I had to do something about it and I’ve had two surgeries now - liposuction and an arm lift.

"My arms were really lumpy and horrible. I’ve got this little waist, I shouldn’t have cellulite on my arms!"

Josie is recovering now, and is looking forward to launching some new projects, including Josie’s Taste of the Westcountry and an upcoming renovation show, where she promises "you’ll see a totally different side [to me]".

One of the silver linings Josie is taking away is her helping to raise awareness.

"I didn’t realise how common lipoedema was. Before [I was diagnosed], I would get home and my legs would be really achy from a long day.

"People think TV is glamorous, but sometimes you’re filming 12-hour days on your feet. So my legs were painful - but I thought everyone had that, I didn’t realise it was lipoedema.

"To talk about it has been amazing. The response I’ve had is unreal. It’s not like I’ve done anything courageous - all I’ve done is had surgery.

"But you’ve been fighting all your life to get rid of this fat, then you realise it’s your genetics that you’re fighting. I think it’s made a few women feel like, ‘Thank God, it’s not just me.’"

Josie Gibson: My Secret Battle With Lipoedema | This Morning - YouTube

Watch On

In January of this year, Josie first opened up on discovering she had the condition while appearing on This Morning, revealing some of the symptoms that women should be aware of.

She explained on the show that, as well as noticing her legs were disproportionate in size to her waist, it was the pain associated that started to raise concerns.

“So what would happen is you go out for a whole day filming. You get home and then your legs would swell up and they go really big and heavy. They can become quite sore and I used to bruise like a peach.”

Joined by one of her doctors, Dr Wolf, he added, “The most characteristic features are the disproportion between upper and lower torso” as well as “large volumes of fatty tissue that's often quite uncomfortable, painful to touch".

Symptoms can also include "a lot of bruising in the extremities and often there's never any fatty deposition on the hands and feet, it almost looks like you've got an elastic band just underneath your ankle to give you that sort of cuffed appearance."

Josie’s Taste of the Westcountry starts on April 26, on ITV and ITVX.

This feature first appeared in Woman magazine. Subscribe now and get your first 6 issues for £1.