If you’re watching Love Island (and if you’re not, are you MAD?) then you will have fallen in love with the cute coupling that is Marcel and Gabby.
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Their burgeoning relationship is so sweet you just want to book a flight and storm into the villa and give them both a big warm hug.
But here’s a story that will make you fall in love with Gabby even more.
Even though the gorgeous dancer looks nimble now, once upon a time, it was a totally different story.
When she was just 12 years old, the wee mite was forced to undergo surgery to correct progressive scoliosis in her back – which left her with an 18-inch scar!
Scoliosis, in case you don’t know, is a condition where the spine twists and curves to the side.
Teen dancer Julie Carlile, one of the Mersey Girls who who appeared in BGT recently, is currently in the process of preparing for surgery for the same condition.
Gabby has revealed that her spine was in such a bad state that without surgery she could have ended up looking “like Quasimodo”.
“The top of my spine was curving so much it had caused the bottom to do so too, resulting in a big ‘S’ shape,” she has said.
“Therefore my shoulders, hips and ribs were all being pushed out of line.”
Brave Gabby then endured some very tough surgery so that her spine was rectified.
“They had to take out my ribs, deflate my lungs, insert two long stainless steel rods either side of my vertebrae and various nuts and bolts to keep them in place. I’m basically a robot!”
But, even after surgery, life wasn’t easy.
Her recovery process was just as gruelling but her hard work paid off.
“I had to learn how to walk,” she said. “But being a dancer, I was determined. I went back to dancing within 6 weeks. And I won a ballet championship 6 months after!”
While to look at her you’d never think she’d ever had a problem with her spine, she does still sport this scar, which she admits, she used to have a problem with.
“I grew up being embarrassed of it,” she said. “I’d walk sideways on down the beach so people wouldn’t see, I’d wear clothes or my hair down my back to cover it. I’d tell people I was bit by a shark and it was cosmetic surgery.
“But now I have no shame! People are intrigued and find it fascinating that I do what I do with such an impairment. And I’m proud of myself that I’ve managed to come so far and do so much.
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“I never let this get the better of me!”
Awww, what a sweet story.
Love Island is on ITV2 tonight at 9pm.